The Nigerian Army on Thursday distanced the Commanding Officer of the
103 Battalion, Lt. Col Anthony Wende, from a petition purportedly
written to President Goodluck Jonathan, on why the counter insurgency
operations in the North-East had not yielded the desired results.
Some online news media recently reported that the commanding officer
petitioned the president, where allegation of corruption was said to
have been the reason for the prolonged battle against the insurgents.
The letter to the president also claimed that the military did not
have the requisite weapons to prosecute the current counter insurgency
war against Boko Haram.
Addressing a press conference, the Deputy Director, Army Public
Relations of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Col. Sani
Usman, said the Nigerian army had investigated the petition and
discovered that the officer was not the author of the letter.
He said, “The petition was carefully studied and investigated by the
Nigerian Army and as part of this process, forensic analysis by relevant
security agencies was carried out. It was discovered that the
allegations were spurious and baseless as the commanding officer had
nothing to do with the petition. He has therefore been exonerated.”
Usman alleged that the petition was aimed at distracting the Army from its fight against terrorism in the country.
The Army spokesman said, “We wish to categorically state that the
petition is the handiwork of mischief-makers aimed at distracting the 7
Division and indeed the Nigerian Army from its determined efforts at
fighting insurgency and terrorism in this nation to a logical and
successful conclusion.”
He added, “You will recall that the officer’s unit currently plays a
vital role in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria. Under
his command, the unit, along with others, has been able to deny the
terrorists freedom of action within their area of operations.
“It is out of sheer mischief therefore that someone is trying to
ensure that the name of this gallant officer is smeared for
inconceivable reasons.”
Wende, who was also at the press briefing, denied ever authoring the
letter to the president, adding that there was no truth in the report
that he was being threatened by the army authorities.
Source:
Punch Newspaper
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