DHQ denies report on retirement of Service Chiefs

The Defence Headquarters has raised an alarm over a false story going round on the social media claiming that some service chiefs have been retired and replaced.

Speaking on the rumours, the Director, Defence Information, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar described the rumours as baseless and unfounded. He added that the service chiefs are still discharging their official responsibilities.

General Rabe said: “It is disturbing and embarrassing the cooked up stories going round in the social media.

“There is no iota of truth in the misleading information. We ask the public to ignore the report as baseless and unfounded,” he concluded.

Some online media allegedly reported that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the retirement from service of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Olonisakin, and the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas.

Some of the media even claimed that the Minister of Defence, Brig.- Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd), had since sent letters to the Service Chiefs, wherein they were directed to handover on or before Friday, December 16.

The media further speculated that Olonisakin and Ibas’ disengagements were based on their attaining the official years of retirement from the military.