A former Nigerian Army officer, Major Toye Akinlade (rtd.) has dragged the Nigerian Army and two senior officers before the National Industrial Court in Abuja, alleging abuse of office, unlawful redeployment, and continued coercion to serve after he formally resigned from the military.
In the suit, Akinlade is asking the court to declare that his resignation took effect upon the receipt of his letter, and that any further deployment, discipline, or command exercised over him thereafter was unlawful, tortious, and unconstitutional.
The respondents in the suit are the Nigerian Army; Colonel Samson O. Okebukola; and Colonel D.O. Ehicheoya.
In the court documents sighted by The PUNCH, Akinlade said that, despite submitting a letter of resignation dated 11 November 2025, to the Chief of Army Staff and relevant authorities, he was allegedly redeployed against his will and subjected to disciplinary measures without due process.
He sought seven questions for determination, among which is a declaration that his letter of resignation took effect from the date it was received by the respondents.
Akinlade also sought a declaration that the query dated 12 December 2025, issued to him on the directive of the third respondent after his resignation, has no validity in law, is null and void, and of no legal effect.
The applicant is also challenging a letter of displeasure issued to him, which imposed military sanctions of reprimand and admonishment without a board of inquiry.
According to the suit, the letter was issued ‘without a Board of Inquiry or Investigation establishing evidence of indictment against the applicant’.
In an affidavit in support of the action, Akinlade averred that after he complained about the disciplinary letter and sought redress, he was redeployed from Jos to Zaria, contrary to established Army administrative procedures.
He stated: ‘That the applicant being dissatisfied with the excesses and abuse of official power of the second respondent without being checked by appropriate superior authority, submitted his letter of resignation’.
The former officer further alleged that notwithstanding his resignation, he was ordered to report to Basawa, Zaria, and was continuously treated as being in service, an action he described as unlawful.
He also accused the Army authorities of denying him leave to attend to his health after collapsing during duty and being hospitalised. In the court papers, he said that medical tests showed that his diastolic blood pressure dropped to 60, adding that refusal to grant him leave amounted to a tortious act.
Akinlade is seeking several declaratory and consequential reliefs, including a declaration that his resignation ‘takes effect from the date it was received by the Respondents and the applicant is deemed resigned from the organisation of the 1st Respondent’.
He is also asking the court to order the Nigerian Army to process his pension and entitlements, having served for over 10 years, and to allow him retrieve his personal belongings from his last official accommodation.
In addition, he is claiming N50 million in damages for alleged unlawful restriction, trauma, and violation of his rights, as well as N1 million as cost of filing the suit.
In his written address, Akinlade argued that resignation from military service is a constitutional right, stressing that ‘military service is voluntary and not a form of modern-day slavery’.
He cited Section 306 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that resignation ‘shall take effect when the writing signifying the resignation is received by the authority to whom it is addressed’.
He urged the court to hold that once his resignation was received, the respondents were ‘stopped from further compelling’ him to perform military duties or subjecting him to disciplinary processes.
The National Industrial Court is yet to fix a date for hearing of the suit.
