By Asuquo Cletus Felix
The Nigerian Army on Thursday, denied the mass killing of Igbos in South Eastern Nigeria.
This was contained in a press release issued by the director army public Relations Major General Onyema Nwachukwu titled “ALLEGATION OF MASS KILLING BY TROOPS OF NIGERIAN ARMY IN SOUTH EAST IS DESPICABLY FALSE”.
It noted that video, is a mischievous and systematic campaign of calumny by Simon Ekpa, the self acclaimed leader of the Proscribed indigenous people of biafra, where it alleged that the troops were carrying out a mass killing of innocent igbos at an undisclosed river and dumping them in the water.
According to the army, insignia visible on the berets of those in the video clearly identified them as personnel of the Nigerian Navy, who according to Oyema were engaged in a routine test firing of a weapon system mounted on a vehicle.
He noted that as a way of ensuring the safety of other road users and commuters, the troops took precautionary measures by temporarily halting vehicular movement along the route, until the test firing was safely concluded.
” The Nigerian Army (NA) has noted with dismay, a mischievous and systematic campaign of calumny by Simon Ekpa, a self acclaimed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafran terrorists’ group.
” The self acclaimed leader through spurious and unfounded claims raised alarm on a viral video alleging that troops of the NA are carrying out mass killing of innocent Igbos at a river and dumping them in the water.
“The report also contained some unimaginable and not well couched falsehood targeted at whipping-up negative sentiments against troops and inciting anarchy in the SouthEast region.
“Contrary to the falsehood being spread from the devious propaganda machinery of the desperate and self-serving terrorists’ leader, the NA wishes to state that it has conducted a comprehensive investigation on the allegations made by Simon Ekpa and his associates.
“Accordingly, we wish to categorically refute these baseless claims by throwing more light on the occurrence. In the first instance, the troops in the video footage are not personnel of the Nigerian Army, as the insignia visible on their berets clearly identifies them as personnel of the Nigerian Navy, who were engaged in a routine test firing of a weapon system mounted on a vehicle and in order to ensure the safety of other road users and commuters, the troops took precautionary measures by temporarily halting vehicular movement along the route, until the test firing was safely concluded. Observers were also kept at a safe distance, maintaining transparency and prioritizing the safety of all involved.
“Additionally, preliminary findings also indicate that the occurrence took place in the Southwest region of the country and not the Southeast as advertisedly portrayed by the false alarmists and propagandists.
“Furthermore, it was observed that there was no evidence to support the assertion that individuals were being shot at, in the river, nor have there been any report from local communities regarding the discovery of corpses in the area.” It reads in part.
