The Nigerian Army has reacted to what it called “a deliberate and calculated campaign of calumny aimed at misleading the public and cause disaffection among troops” being promoted on social media by a group called ‘Eastern Radio’.
In a statement issued on Sunday by Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, the army authorities said it is untrue that there was tribal war at an army barracks at 82 Division Nigerian Army in Enugu, where three soldiers were allegedly feared dead.
The statement said in the write up, the Eastern Radio claimed there was an altercation in an unnamed barracks in 82 Division over nomination for ‘peacekeeping operations’ which led to exchange of gunfire among imaginary troops that resulted in loss of lives.
According to the Army, “apart from obvious flaws and inconsistency in the narration, the Nigerian Army wishes to emphatically state that no such incident occurred anywhere in the Nigerian Army, let alone 82 Division. In fact, the alleged reported incident existed only in the obviously negatively skewed minds of the authors of such fabrication.
“The intent and goals of this band of miscreants is to cause distrust amongst own troops and the country’s populace at large, which unknown to them is an exercise in futility because the Nigerian Army is cohesive.
“Their methodology is to employ such campaign of calumny and distortion of an established reign of peaceful, harmonious and esprit-de-corps culture in 82 Division and the entire Nigerian Army.”
The Army said “the campaign is a failed one as the entire Nigerian Army remains indivisible, unprovoked and not gullible to such cheap and heinous insinuations.”
The statement urged the general public to “discountenance the false story of EASTERN RADIO and their affiliated secessionist groups as there is no iota of truth in the story.”
“We would like to inform the public that the 82 Division Nigerian Army is intact in all its locations and deployments, same goes for all the various formations, units, cantonments and barracks of the Nigerian Army.
“Above all, the Nigerian Army remains committed to providing aid to civil authority as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) and wishes to assure the public of the Chief of Army Staff’s unalloyed commitment to protect lives and property whenever called upon to do so in line with extant provisions of the law.
“We wish to also reassure all well meaning Nigerians that the Nigerian Army remains a national institution which emphasizes peace, unity and mutual co-existence devoid of any sentiments or such variables as ethnic, tribe or religious differences.
“Any attempt by any individual or group of persons to associate the military and indeed the Nigerian Army with such will be a total waste of time, energy and resources. We are proud professionals bound by discipline, unflinching love, loyalty, espirit-de-corps and love for our colleagues and our country. We would remain focussed and would not be distracted by irritating campaigns of calumny or fabricated lies by some unscrupulous elements.
“It is therefore very imperative at this point to warn all those mischief makers to desist from these unpatriotic and obviously subversive acts in any guise,” the statement said.
