The Nigerian Army has denied claims made by militant group – Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) – alleging that some officers are plotting to overthrow the present democratic government of Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement released on Thursday by Colonel Sani Usman, the Army described the claims as “baseless and most unfortunate.”
Colonel Usman said the allegation exists solely “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 we are a product of democracy and a focused professional institution and would have nothing to do with such abomination and heinous crime.”
“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 also said it will investigate 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.”
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