No Nigerian Army general under trial, says military

• Cautions against sensationalization of security issues

By Lawrence Olaoye & Edoamaowo Udeme

The Defence headquarters yesterday affirmed that none of its senior officials is under court martial contrary to reports by some national dailies.

This is coming as the military hierarchy, in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, cautioned against sensationalizing and fabricating sensitive security issues.

Olukolade stated “there is no truth whatsoever in the report making rounds in a section of the media claiming that a Nigerian Army court martial has tried and found15 senior officers including 10 Generals guilty for aiding terrorists.

“The story, as published in some dailies and zealously propagated by many on-line media, is very unfortunate and meant to do maximum damage to the image of Nigerian Army and its personnel.

“This falsehood had previously been refuted when it first reared its head but those concocting it appear hell-bent on misleading Nigerians and the international community to give credence to the negative impression they are so keen to propagate about the Nigerian military.

“It has become inevitable to reassure the general public that any on-going disciplinary process or trial will be made public when necessary. After all, Court Martial issues in the Nigerian Army are not known to be secret undertakings as it is on record that previous proceedings and outcome have been made public in the past.

“The general public is therefore implored to discountenance the report as the handiwork of those who do not mean well for the country and her Armed Forces.

Disciplinary processes being undertaken in any formation of the Nigerian Army are at best routine and definitely not at the level that has been so willfully exaggerated for clearly sinister motives.

“For emphasis, there is no General of the Nigerian Army under any form of trial,” he stressed.