A militant group, the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) alleged, Wednesday, that some officers of the Nigerian Army approached them for support to overthrow ‘our duly elected present democratic government.’
A statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Acting Director Army Public Relations, Thursday, said the report was ‘baseless and most unfortunate allegation.’
“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to another campaign of calumny and distraction by faceless criminal gang of economic saboteurs that hide under the aegis of Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) alleging that some officers of the Nigerian Army approached them for support to overthrow our duly elected present democratic government.
“This is baseless and most unfortunate allegation that existed in the warped minds of the originators of such weighty allegation. The Nigerian Army wish to state that this is not true and hereby distanced itself from this weighty allegation.
“We also see this speculation as a dangerous distraction to our effort in fighting insurgency and other criminal elements in the country.
“The Nigerian Army would like to send a strong and an unequivocal warning to those speculating a coup by the Nigerian Army (NA) against the Government to desist forthwith. We would like state in clear terms that that we are a product of democracy and a focused professional institution and would have nothing to do with such abomination and heinous crime.
According to the statement, the Army reassured Nigerians that its institution would not be part of ‘any anti-democratic misadventure’ being its ‘greatest beneficiary.’
“We wish to state further that the NA is the greatest beneficiary of democracy and therefore cannot ever contemplate any anti-democratic misadventure, certainly not under the command of the present Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai. Rather, we see this type of dangerous speculation as a declaration of war to destabilise the present government by these unscrupulous elements.
“The Nigerian Army is investigating those behind the dangerous insinuation in order to unravel the real motive behind it.
“We would like to reiterate our unalloyed loyalty to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and defence of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “We would also like to reaffirm our unconditional support and obedience to civil authority.
“We wish to further assure Nigerians and indeed all peace loving people that the Nigerian Army and indeed its personnel will never be involved in such terrible misadventure.
“We wish to further add that no matter how long it takes, we would track and find out those behind these insinuations and bring them to justice,” the Army said.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) is set to retire no fewer than 464 members of the Nigerian Armed Forces who have put in the mandatory 35 years of service, next month.
To this effect, the retiring personnel comprising 449 from the Nigerian Army, two from the Nigerian Navy and 13 from the Nigerian Air Force , will be passing out tomorrow, after undergoing a training in Managerial Entrepreneurship skills at the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre ,NAFRC Oshodi Lagos, as part of preparation to re-integrate them into civil life.
Commandant of the centre, Air Vice Marshal Mike Iloenyosi, while briefing journalists on activities lined up for the graduation ceremony, explained that the training wa in line with the mandate of the centre which was to equip retiring personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces with relevant trade and vocational skills that would enable them enjoy a productive and fulfilling retirement life.
He disclosed that the centre so far trained about 40,500 ex-servicemen since inception in 1945, a figure he attributed to part of the centre’s achievements.
