A dismissed Nigerian soldier, Rotimi Olamilekan, popularly known as Soja Boi, has challenged the Nigerian Army to make its payroll public, as he released what he described as evidence of soldiers’ earnings through bank transaction alerts.
Olamilekan, a former lance corporal with service number 18NA/77/1009, made the disclosure in a video shared on Tuesday, barely hours after the Nigerian Army dismissed his earlier allegations on poor welfare as false and misleading.
In the video, the ex-soldier insisted he was not out to tarnish the image of the military but to present what he called verifiable facts.
“I am not trying to spoil the Nigerian Army’s image or make people look at them as if they are not good. But I am just speaking the facts and I will be backing them with evidence,” he said.
He went on to display three bank transaction alerts, which he claimed reflected payments received during his time in service. One of the alerts, dated February 2, 2026, showed a credit of N112,061.59 with a narration linked to “NIC-ARMY AC,” which he identified as his monthly salary.
Another alert dated February 4, 2026 showed a N20,000 credit, which he described as a “grumbling allowance,” while a third alert dated November 4, 2025 indicated a N45,000 payment from a private finance company, which he claimed was an operational allowance paid to soldiers deployed to conflict zones such as Maiduguri.
According to him, an additional security allowance of N6,000 exists, but he stressed that operational allowances are not permanent and are only paid when personnel are actively deployed.
“If you are not in operation, they don’t pay you that one. If you go on operation, they will pay you,” he said, adding that soldiers posted to barracks duties typically earn only their basic salary and the N20,000 allowance.
Olamilekan also reiterated his earlier claims that soldiers are often forced to procure essential protective gear, including helmets and fragmentation jackets, with their personal funds.
“Helmet, you go buy. Fragmentation jacket, you go buy them,” he alleged.
He urged Nigerians with relatives in the military to verify his claims independently.
“Call your brother, call your sister, and ask them if I am lying,” he said, while daring the Army to publicly disclose its payroll structure.
“If they say I am lying, they should bring out their payroll. How much are they paying soldiers?” he challenged.
However, the authenticity of the receipts could not be independently verified. While one of the alerts referenced “NIC-ARMY AC,” the others did not explicitly indicate the Nigerian Army or any government institution as the source of payment. The documents also lacked official payroll identifiers or institutional letterheads.
The Nigerian Army had earlier dismissed Olamilekan’s claims in a statement issued by its Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Appolonia Anaele, describing them as baseless.
The Army maintained that uniforms, weapons, kits, and protective gear are provided to personnel through established logistics channels and insisted that no soldier is deployed to operational theatres without adequate equipment. It added that while some personnel may choose to supplement issued kits, such actions are voluntary.
On remuneration, the Army stated that soldiers receive consolidated salaries along with uniform allowances, operational allowances, and other mission-specific entitlements, all paid directly into their bank accounts.
Olamilekan first gained national attention in February 2026 after a viral video in which he called on political officeholders to send their children to join the military.
He was subsequently arrested, reportedly spent his birthday in detention, and was later dismissed from service. The Army attributed his dismissal to repeated acts of indiscipline, including violations of military social media regulations and unauthorised public engagements, insisting that the decision was not connected to the content of his videos.
