Nigerian Army Slams Sahara Reporters Over Corruption Claims

The Nigerian Army says it has noted with dismay, a mischievous and systematic smear campaign by Sahara Reporters, aimed at inciting troops, heating the polity and destabilizing the country through spurious, baseless and false alarm on corruption, nepotism, ethnic and religious bigotry within the Army.

The Director Aof rmy Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu in a Press release said the “report could best be described as being at total dissonance and aberrance with the virtues and symbol of national unity, which the NA and indeed the Armed Forces of Nigeria represent.”

According to the press release, the NA noted that the report contained “some unimaginable slurs targeted at denigrating and demonizing the procedure for the selection of competent troops for Peace Support Operations (PSO), which has over the years earned the NA very well-deserved encomiums and an enviable status in the comity of nations in global defence, as a professional, hard-fighting, and disciplined institution.”

The release further stated that “considering the unprofessional and irresponsible manner in which the smear allegations were concocted against the NA, it clearly depicts a delusional perception and an abysmal bereftment of the slightest clue on routine processes of deployment exercises in the NA. This incorrigible attitude has only further crystalized the inordinate desire of Sahara Reporters to incite mayhem and breakdown of law and order in a concerted effort to engender violence and destabilize the nation, through devious desperate and self-serving machinations.

“It is expedient to state that the real intention or otherwise of the infamous online media in publishing such toxic concoctions at this critical period is targeted at causing disaffection within a united and formidable military. It is clear that deliberate falsehood and noxious narratives orchestrated by the online media were to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unfitting garb of infamy calculated to whip up unnecessary aspersion to distract the NA.”

The Army accused the online news report of being unprofessional and propagating falsehood.

It said; “The online news report could have been ignored given its pedigree of unprofessional and yellow page journalism, however, the unacceptable falsehood being propagated demands clarification for the interest of well-meaning Nigerians and in honour of selfless officers and soldiers, who have continued to pay the price of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation and global peace.”

The Army went further to defend the “exceptional positive changes in the morale, fighting spirit and physical components of the force” recorded under the current leadership.

The release said in clear terms “that posting and redeployment in various formations and units, including the Army Headquarters is a routine exercise, aimed at ensuring that the NA is effectively manned for operational efficiency and effectiveness.

“Furthermore, over the years, the NA has been very firm with the criteria for selection of those to serve in the PSOs, which include, that person must have participated in the ongoing counter-terrorism counter-insurgency operations in the North East for at least 2 years, among other criteria.”

The Army also noted that “In case the online media and those who fed it all the lies it published do not know, it is on record that the NA has never had it so good, given the quantum of combat and logistics equipment that has been injected into the theatres of operations, a circumstance that has evidently turned the tide against the complex array of threats facing the nation.

“This is in addition to welfare packages introduced by the incumbent leadership of the NA. More also, aside tfrom the prompt payment of salaries and operational allowances, welfare flights have been inaugurated, which significantly reduced the burden of troops travelling in and out of the theatres to see their loved ones. This is also in addition to a huge commitment to the medical needs of wounded-in-action officers and soldiers and the barracks communities. Scholarships are also being awarded to children and wards of officers and soldiers who paid the supreme price in ongoing operations.”

The Army questioned the motive behind the online media news report and wondered whether the online media is “so easily sucked in by the antics of conflict merchants and agents provocateurs, who are uncomfortable with the steadfastness, patriotism, unwavering commitment, sacrifice, ruggedness, and resoluteness of the Nigerian Army in stamping out terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes bedevilling the nation and the West African sub-region.”

It said; “Could it be that the online media is doing it for selfish gains to plunge the nation into chaos, which is worth interrogating by those who are interested in distinguishing between rogue journalism and professional one. Let it be known to those who concocted the lies that the gallant officers and soldiers of the NA are undeterred, undistracted and unfazed by the harebrained assertions contained in that mischievous report.”

“The desperate effort by the authors of this unpatriotic report to denigrate the Nigerian Army by giving ethno- religious, and nepotic colouration to its activities, is nothing but an inglorious attempt to woo unsuspecting members of the public with bigotry bargains, laced heavily with uncanny intent.

“It must be made inarguably clear that the NA remains a symbol of national unity and therefore cannot afford to be divided along ethnoreligious lines,” the release said.

“It must be asserted here that the NA under the current leadership has remained resolute in carrying out its constitutional role and will vigorously continue to implement welfare programs for the benefit of all personnel. Troops deployed in ongoing operational engagements are putting in their best in defence of the nation and should be encouraged, rather than plotting disaffection amongst them.

“All personnel of the NA are urged to remain steadfast and unswayed by the antics of unpatriotic elements, who for selfish gains want to plunge the nation into chaos,” it added.