The Nigerian Army(NA) has accused Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of promoting insecurity using pictures of fake soldiers arrested in Lagos.
Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said the malicious disinformation and falsehood peddled by one Solomon Okafor of Radio Biafra London, doing the rounds in the social media was aimed at promoting insecurity in the country.
He said the meme alleged complicity by troops in a fictitious case of kidnapping of a family of 10 in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
He (Okafor) also maliciously alleged that about 87 percent of NA soldiers were kidnappers and bandits.
Nwachukwu said while the Nigerian Army would have ignored this merchant of falsehood, considering his lack of credibility, it was however instructive to put the records in proper perspective for the interest of unsuspecting members of the public, whom such misrepresentation could mislead.
“It must therefore be clarified that the said report is a creation of IPOB/ESN social media foot soldiers, with intent to malign the NA.
“The picture bandied around on the social media is a picture of fake soldiers (impostors) who were arrested in Lagos – Ondo states axis by troops of Operation CHECKMATE under 81 Division NA, sometime in April 2022. The operation was widely publicized in both the new and traditional media before handing over the suspects to the Nigeria Police.
“It is also crucial to emphasize that following troops’ successful exploits in unravelling and unmasking IPOB elements who have been masquerading as unknown gunmen and wreaking carnage against Ndigbo in South East Nigeria, IPOB/ ESN have severally attempted to use doctored graphic images, video footages and spurious narratives in online and social media campaigns to disparage the NA and bring her to disrepute.
“The author and his sponsors should note that no matter the campaign of calumny by IPOB and other fifth columnists, the NA will be undeterred and remains a cherished national institution that will continue to execute its constitutional mandate of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria, towards building a united nation,” he said.
The Army spokesperson urged members of the public to disregard this mindless and irresponsible propaganda clearly emanating from IPOB, aimed at promoting insecurity in the country.
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