‘Show us the payroll’– Soja Boi dares Army to go public after releasing bank salary alerts

Dismissed soldier Rotimi Olamilekan, known as “Soja Boi,” has challenged the Nigerian Army to publish its payroll after releasing bank alerts showing a monthly salary of ₦112,061 to support his claims of poor welfare and self-funded equipment.

Dismissed Nigerian soldier Rotimi Olamilekan, popularly known as “Soja Boi,” has escalated his public dispute with the Nigerian Army by releasing bank transaction alerts he claims prove the military’s poor welfare structure. In a video shared on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, the former lance corporal (Service No: 18NA/77/1009) challenged the military high command to make its official payroll public to refute his findings. Olamilekan displayed three separate credit alerts to back his assertions, including a February 2, 2026, payment of ₦112,061.59 labeled “NIC-ARMY AC,” which he identified as a standard monthly salary. “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 stated, maintaining that his goal is transparency rather than defamation.

The former soldier further broke down the supplementary payments received by personnel, describing a ₦20,000 credit from February 4 as a “grumbling allowance” and a ₦45,000 payment from November 2025 as an operational allowance for those in conflict zones like Maiduguri. He clarified that these additional funds are not permanent fixtures of a soldier’s income. “If you are not in operation, they don’t pay you that one. If you go on operation, they will pay you,” he explained, adding that soldiers on barracks duty often survive solely on their basic salary and the minor maintenance allowance. Olamilekan also doubled down on his controversial claim that troops are forced to buy their own life-saving gear. “Helmet, you go buy. Fragmentation jacket, you go buy them,” he alleged, urging Nigerians to verify these details with their relatives currently serving in the force.

The Nigerian Army, through Acting Director of Army Public Relations Appolonia Anaele, had previously dismissed Olamilekan’s allegations as baseless, insisting that all kits and salaries are provided through a structured institutional system. While Olamilekan’s latest video provides specific figures, the authenticity of the displayed documents remains unverified, as two of the three alerts did not explicitly name a government institution as the source. Nevertheless, the former soldier remained defiant, daring the authorities to provide a counter-narrative. “If they say I am lying, they should bring out their payroll. How much are they paying soldiers?” he challenged. This development comes amid a wider national conversation regarding the adequacy of funding for the frontline troops engaged in various security operations across Nigeria.

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