About “25% of trainees are expected to die” during every recruitment – Ex-military boss

Gen. John Agim Agim (rtd), a former spokesman of Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters has said that the training that recruits go through before eventually becoming soldiers is not a child’s play.

He told TheNation in an interview that the training is so hard that 15-25% of successful applicants are expected to die during training.

Without attempting to scare out of people the desire of joining the military, the ex-soldier said: “The military training we get already takes care of whatever situation we find ourselves.”

He explained: “In training, we are taught how to survive in whichever situation we find ourselves. Even if we are captured by the enemy, we know how to survive so we don’t die as a prisoner of war.

“So by the time we go for the real operations, to us it usually looks like a rehearsal because we have already seen the worst during training.

“I can assure you that we have a robust training that when you come out of it alive, you know that it is not you but God. You can go for several days without food.

“And for each of our recruitments, there is a percentage expected to die during training. And that could be as much as between 15 and 25%.

“That alone shows you that it is no play zone or a boys scout lifestyle. That is why when filling a form to the Nigerian Defence Academy, you sign a bond that you are responsible for your decision.

The military training zones are always out of bounds for civilians and their activities kept secret for security reasons but Gen. John Agim Agim (rtd) said the time has come to demystify the activities of the military.

“I urge Nollywood filmmakers to try and see ways of how they can produce a few of our drills so that the public can know some of the things that we go through,” he suggested.

About “25% of trainees are expected to die” during every recruitment – Ex-military boss

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