The Nigerian Army on Monday dismissed reports that that it was deploying only officers of Northern extraction to quell the heighten tension in the South East.
This was contained in a statement made available to WuzupNigeria by Director, Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima.
In the statement entitled: “Re: Nigerian Army shuns Southern officers, deploy Northern commanders to quell tension in South East,” Yerima declared that there was no iota of truth in the allegation.
“Ordinarily, the NA would have ignored this illogical narrative by the online media but for the good of members of the public. The NA condemn 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 geopolitical 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 be clear in everyone’s mind that the NA does not train, deploy or operate along ethnic, religious, tribal or regional divides,” he said.
Yerima stated that senior officers are posted to command units based on their capability and competence taking into consideration their posting history.
He further accused the ‘author’ of the allegation of bias which he claimed 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. This is one of the dumbest opinions of the writer. 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 Brigade 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 urge 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 wrecking havoc in the region,” he said.
