Court nullifies General Ijioma’s sack, orders reinstatement to old rank

A National Industrial Court in Abuja has nullified the compulsory retirement of Major General Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma by the Nigerian Army.

Justice Edith Agbakoba on Monday held that the retirement which was contained in a letter dated 9th June, 2016 is “illegal, invalid, wrongful, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever, and it is hereby set aside.”

The judge observed that the action of the Army did not follow due legal process, adding that “there was no evidence of trial or court martial by Army Council” before the retirement, which said is a breach of fair-hearing guaranteed under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.

The judge affirmed the order of the court on July 26, 2016, which barred the Army from documenting Ijioma’s retirement, and ruled that he is by the judgement seen as having never been retired from the Army.

While restraining the defendants from obstructing the judgement, the judge however refused to award the sum of N6billion damages in favour of Ijioma.

General Ijioma had brought the action in June 2016 against the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff through his counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) challenging his retirement alongside 36 others over alleged political activities and corruption.

Ijioma had claimed that the letter dated 9th June, 2016 titled: ‘Compulsory Retirement NA Officer Major General Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma (N/8304)’ made pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 09.02c (4) of the Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers of the Armed Forces (HTACOS) 2012 Revised, was a breach of his fundamental rights having served for more than 32 years with honours.