Army Dismisses Circular Announcing Operations In Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Taraba

The Nigerian Army (NA) has described as fake a circular purportedly emanating from Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ) of an impending operation to be conducted in Benue, Taraba, Plateau and Kogi States.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, in a rebuttal, said the information conveyed in the document was “outright falsehood calculated to spread fake news in an effort to create undue tension and undermine the NA in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

“A close scrutiny of the fake press release with a fake Army letterhead indicates a non-existent nomenclature in the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), which is ‘THE NIGERIA DEFENCE HEADQUARTERS ABUJA SECTOR (1) OPERATION WHIRL STROKE’.”

He added that,, “there is no such appointment as General Operation Commander in the Armed Forces of Nigeria establishments.”

The statement noted further that the Nigeria Army, being a staunch defender of Nigeria’s sovereignty, has overtime maintained robust civil-military relations with the good people of Benue, Taraba, Plateau and Kogi States.

“It is therefore untoward that the mischief makers could attempt to ruin the highly valued relationship with their intent for extra judicial killing in the course of conducting the purported operations,” he added.

General Nwachukwu said the NA has always sustained the flow of information to the general public whenever the need arises through appropriate media channels.

He, therefore, warned all unscrupulous persons or groups employing misinformation to aggravate insecurity in the country to desist from the practice of spreading unauthorised information on behalf of the NA, but join other well-meaning and law-abiding citizens to support the NA in countering terrorism, insurgency, banditry and other forms of criminality in the country.