‘We expect up to 25% of trainees to die during recruitment’ — Ex-Defence spokesman

Gen. John Agim Agim (rtd), a former spokesman of the Defence Headquarters, has revealed that during each recruitment exercise, 15-25% of successful applicants are expected to die during training.

He made the revelation in a recent interview with TheNation. According to him: “The military training we get already takes care of whatever situation we find ourselves. .

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 urge Nollywood film makers 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. .

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.”