No information on whether Nigerian soldiers are permitted to leave the armed forces should they disapprove of the activities of their commanders, or about the Base Ordnance Depot in Kaduna in September 1999, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Regarding the Nigerian National Guard, on 21 April 1993 its commander, Colonel Abdul Mumuni Aminu, announced that the National Guard would be deployed on Nigeria's borders, and that its duties would not conflict with those of the army or the police (Radio Nigeria 22 Apr. 1993). The commander stated that there was a plan for the National Guard to establish three units which would include "ground intervention squads, paratrooper units and marine service squads" (ibid.). The commander also stated that the country had been divided into four zones for the purposes of the operations of the Guard: the north-west, based in Kano, the north-east, based in Bauchi, the south-west, based in Akure, and the south-east, based in Umauhia (ibid.).

On 23 October 1993 it was reported that the National Guard had been disbanded (Xinhua 23 Oct. 1993). The report added that

at a parade of the guard in the new capital of Abuja on Friday, the guard commandant Col. Lawan Gwadabe said that about 120 officers of the Guard, who seconded from the various armed forces, would return to their parent units, according to the Daily Times. About 3,000 guardsmen would be deployed to the three divisions of the army and the Lagos garrison, he said. Gwadabe also said that the interim national government ... had told him that it had no provisions for the funding of the Guard

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Radio Nigeria. 22 April 1993. "National Guard to Establish Border Posts." (BBC Summary 24 Apr. 1993/NEXIS)

Xinhua, 23 October 1993. "National Guard Disbanded in Nigeria." (NEXIS)

IRB databases

Keesing's Record of World Events

LEXIS/NEXIS

New African [London]. July 1999-November 1999

Unsuccessful attempts to contact two non-documentary sources

War Resisters' International. September 1998. Edited by Bart Horeman and Marc Stolwijk. Refusing to Bear Arms: A World Survey of Conscription and Conscientious Objection to Military Service. London: War Resisters' International.