In an internal memo, the Nigerian Army has suspended approvals for voluntary retirement requests from soldiers, saying the rate at which applications to quit service was flooding its headquarters lately was “disheartening”.

The directive, which military sources told Premium times went out late March, said all forms 9B (military retirement application document) have been suspended and would no longer be made available to soldiers willing to voluntarily discharge from service.

The order did not provide figures that show a spike in recent retirement requests compared with previous times, but it counseled broadly against frivolous voluntary retirement applications that were being allowed to advance through the chain of command when they should have been rejected at the early stages.

A spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Sagir Musa, did not confirm or deny the memo went reached for comments by Premium Times.

Military sources saw the move as a coercive measure by the Nigerian Army to pull the breaks on droves of personnel exit in recent months.

“Our men are giving up on the war for many reasons that are not limited to poor equipment supplies and the lack of empathy they keep seeing from their top commanders,” a military source who had seen the memo told Premium Times on Sunday. “The soldiers have been asked over and again to remain in service for the defence of their fatherland, but their hope has been waning.”

Although military sources said the memo did not officially cite predominant grounds for voluntary retirement applications, those who have left service or have filed requests to leave had served multiple tours in the northeast as part of the Boko Haram war.

“Many of them have been trapped in the northeast for years and they just want to return to their families and look for another career path away from the military,” the officers said under strict anonymity to avoid being sanctioned for speaking to reporters about internal military decisions.