The disclosures made by the Prelate of the Methodist church over his kidnapping by some group of Fulani headers seems to have unnerved some persons in the Nigerian Army hierarchy.
Indications of this emerged on Wednesday following a press release from the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, denying the allegations from the clergy over the possible involvement of the military in the rampage of the Fulani headers in the South East.
We would recall that the Methodist Prelate was abducted on Sunday in Abia state on a route known Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, which is in the Umunneochi Local Government area of the state.
Abducted with him were two other people – the chaplain of the Methodist church, Very Rev. Abidemi Shittu, and the Bishop of Owerri, Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark.
In an address to the press, following their release by their kidnappers, the priest squarely blamed the Nigerian Army by inference, indicating clearly that some personnel of the military who are of Fulani descent may have a hand in the criminal activities of the herders.
This is the allegation that the military came out to deny on Wednesday, while querying the priest for more information regarding his claims. In their deniable the Army`s Director of Army Public Relations referred to the disclosures by the priest as “weighty allegation”.
The Nigerian Army said they “would take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the Prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation” which unequivocally indicts them.
More of the Army`s denial reads: “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been notified of the insinuation making the rounds on social media, alleging complicity of troops of the Nigerian Army in the kidnap incident of the Methodist Prelate in Abia state recently.
“While the Nigerian Army expresses concern and sympathy for the victim of this heinous crime and shares in his pains, the insinuation that troops are complicit in the kidnap incident is not entirely premised on any findings of investigations and therefore cannot be swallowed hook line and sinker. This allegation, therefore, raises some pertinent questions which are still unanswered.
“Given the spate of insecurity in the region, the question would be, was the issue reported to the unit covering the area? Did the Methodist Church take the NA into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers? No formal complaint has been received by the unit. More worrisome is the fact that it was alleged that the ransom was paid in less than 24 hours. Was the ransom paid to troops? These are questions that beg for answers.
“Moreso, the NA unit has not received any debrief from the Prelate or the Methodist Church. It is, therefore, important to state that troops are deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Okigwe and in front of the Abia State University, Uturu and no information was made available to them or to 14 Brigade or any other formation, except the information making the rounds in the social media.
“It must be clarified that troops’ deployment in the Nigerian Army is not done with considerations for ethnic affiliation, hence the deployment of troops of Fulani ethnic extraction who as alleged by the Prelate, carried out the dastardly act is not our practice or modus operandi in the NA.
“Given our professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army, we will take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the Prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation.”
KEY FACTS
- In their denial, the Army whose duty it is to provide security to Nigerian citizens from external aggressors were charging or blaming the priest and his church for not officially informing them about the kidnap.
- They are also blaming the church for engaging in negotiation for the release of their Prelate and other kidnaped victims, even though historically, the Army is known to have done little or nothing to either provide security of lives and properties in the South East, or actively engaged in the rescue of kidnaped victims.
- Some of these Fulani headers are known not to be Nigerians, but invaders from other countries who are invited, harbored and groomed by home grown terrorist in Nigeria.
- The Nigerian Army is not known to have lunched any single operation against these Fulani terrorist headers operating in the South East.
- However, the same Army have on several occasions launched military operations against the Eastern Security Network (ESN) set up by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to fight the excesses of these Fulani headers.
- Since the 28th of March 2022, an Abuja–Kaduna train was attacked in Katari, Kaduna State, Nigeria, and more than 2 months after, not a single kidnapped passenger has been rescued by the Nigerian military.
TAKEAWAY
The Nigerian Army in their denial made no promise of investigating the allegations made by clergy, nor did they disclose if they have done so at all. Instead of this, they are particularly interested in querying the kidnap victim (the Prelate) with the sole intent of damage control.
