Nigerian Army Denies Posting Allegations

The Nigerian Army has yesterday condemned the report drawn to the the pattern of deployment of northern military officers to the South-East

However, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Mohammed Yerima had denied the allegation noting that officers are posted to command units based on their capability and taking into consideration their posting history.

The statement entitled, “Re: Nigerian Army Shuns Southern Officers, Deploy Northern Commanders to Quell Tension in South East”, reads thus: “The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has been drawn to an online publication with the above title.

“Ordinarily, the NA would have ignored this illogical narrative by the online media but for the good of members of the public.

“The NA condemns this report targeted at steering discord and disunity among peace-loving Nigerians who have refused to be drawn into supporting the senseless attacks on security apparatus in the South East and South-South geo-political zones of the country.

“The NA being a national body does not promote  or post its personnel along ethnic or religious lines.

“Postings in the NA  are  routine exercises and are based on professional competences not as portrayed by the baseless publication.

“For the  records, let it be clear in everyone’s mind that the NA  does not train, deploy or operate along ethnic, religious, tribal or regional divides.

“Senior officers are posted to command units based on their capability and competence taking into consideration their posting history.

“Furthermore, Officers are the most frequently posted personnel of the NA.

“However, because of the bias and seed of discord that the author of the report wanted to sow, it did not allow him to do a thorough background check of his report.

“Part of the poorly scripted article  states that NA’s deployment is based on ethical line.

“To put the record straight, while it is true that the General Officer Commanding 82 Division Enugu, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja is from South West, the Commander 34 Brigade Owerri, Brigadier General Raymond Utsaha is from the North Central.

“Major General Gold Chibuisi is of the South East extraction and is also the General Officer Commanding 2 Division Ibadan which is the largest in number of states under command including 4 Brigades in Edo State.

“Equally, Brigadier General Farouk Mijinyawa was never the Commander of 16 Brigade as misrepresented by the writer.

“It is therefore clear that the concocted story lacks everything in terms of credibility and exists only in the pigment of the author’s imagination.

“The NA urges the general public to know  that in the past months, several subversive elements have attempted to discredit the formidable security network in the South East and the NA  in line with her constitutional roles  of aiding the  civil authority deployed officers and men to checkmate the activities of  these  bad elements who are bent on wreaking havoc in the region.

“Furthermore, the NA would like to request all peace loving Nigerians to disregard the content of the said article in its entirety as it lacks common logic.

“The  NA under the able  leadership of the Chief of Army Staff,  Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru remains committed to the defence of the territorial integrity of Nigeria as well as protecting lives and properties  of all citizens and residents in Nigeria.

“The NA  further solicits for the continuous support of all patriotic Nigerians in stamping out activities of criminals including subversive and divisive elements for a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria,” Yerima added.