TheCable

A total of 403 military personnel would retire from the armed forces next week, Austine Jekenu, an air vice marshal, commandant, Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC), has said.

He told journalists on Thursday in Lagos that the retiring soldiers were drawn from the Army, the air force and the navy.

“A total of 403 servicemen comprising of 281 from the Nigerian Army, 17 from the Nigerian Navy and 105 from the Nigerian Air Force would be graduating from the NAFRC,’’ he said.

Represented by his deputy, Edward Nze, Jekennu, an air vice marshal, said the retiring servicemen went through months of intensive training on skill acquisition and entrepreneurship at NAFRC.

He said the training was to prepare the retirees for life after military service as civilians.

He urged all the retiring servicemen to continue to positively contribute to the achievement of national objectives in whatever business they engaged in.

“It is on record that over 41,400 ex-servicemen of the Nigerian Armed Forces have been trained in this centre since its inception,” he said.

The commandant said the passing out ceremony for the course participants would hold on December 15, adding that Mansur Ali, minister for defence, is expected to grace the occasion.