Defence Headquarters Dismisses Video Of CDS Endorsing Politicians

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has described as “fake and artificially generated” a video portraying the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Olufemi Oluyede supporting a particular politician.

In a statement issued yesterday by the director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Samaila Uba, said the fabricated AI-generated video purporting to show Gen. Oluyede making statements suggesting partisan political support was designed to mislead the public.

He said, “The Defence Headquarters wishes to state unequivocally that the video is fake and did not emanate from the Chief of Defence Staff. The statements attributed to the CDS in the video are false and should be completely disregarded.

“The video is a product of Artificial Intelligence-generated manipulation, apparently designed to deceive and mislead the public, misrepresent the position of the Chief of Defence Staff and bring the Armed Forces of Nigeria into disrepute,” he said.

He reaffirmed that “for the avoidance of doubt, the Armed Forces of Nigeria remains a professional, apolitical and non-partisan institution, committed to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the defence of the nation.

The Defence Headquarters strongly condemns the deliberate creation and circulation of the fake video and warns those behind such acts, as well as persons knowingly amplifying the material to desist forthwith,” he said.

The Military High Command urged members of the public to disregard the video and rely only on information released through official Defence Headquarters channels – Facebook: Defence Headquarters Nigeria X (formally Twitter): DHQNigeria; Instagram: DefenceHQ; WhatsApp: Defence Headquarters Nigeria; Youtube: DefenceTV-Nigeria.