August 19, 2014 – The Defence Headquarters has denounced reports published in BBC that Nigerian soldiers have said that they will not go to the battle front in Borno State to fight members of the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram for paucity of equipment.
In a press statement, Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade described the purported officer as a fake soldier working for the sect adding that it is an act of cowardice alien to the Nigerian Army.
“That degree of cowardice is not in the character of a real soldier of the Nigerian Army. The series of lies contained in the alleged responses of the faceless person referred to as a soldier confirms the whole arrangement as another step of the mischief makers working for terrorists”, he said adding that no soldier has been sent on any mission without being armed.
“Each soldiers answers for his action in terms of discipline. Anyone who knows the military reward for mutiny will not join another person to try it. The overwhelming majority of the Nigerian soldiers remain as brave and disciplined as ever.
“They will certainly not join any renegade, coward, deserter or those trying to incite mutiny in the military to betray the nation at time like this, in a way that impostor told his interviewers. His claims are false”, he said.
Certainly soldiers are not being sent to die. We may not have everything now, but we are improving on weapons and equipment rapidly.
