The Nigerian Army has debunked media reports indicating it recently handed over 1,099 former Boko Haram fighters to the Borno State government.
The rebuttal was made in a statement issued by Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, on Thursday.
According to the army, the 1,099 persons it handed over to the Borno State government for rehabilitation on Wednesday were suspects who were cleared of not having any links with the terrorist group, Boko Haram, after investigation.
It also dismissed reports that the handing over event was shrouded in secrecy, insisting that it was witnessed by relevant stakeholders.
The statement read: “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been notified of a media publication alleging that the NA has handed over 1009 Ex-Boko Haram fighters to Borno State government. The report also alleged that the event was shrouded in secrecy. This report is obviously one of those attempts to dampen troops’ morale and denigrate the NA, riding on the back of unsubstantiated report and misinformation.
“While the NA would not want to join issues with the masterminds of this false narrative, it is important to set the records straight.
“It is an indisputable fact that the ongoing Counter Terrorism Counter Insurgency Operations (CTCOIN) in the North East has led to the arrest of several terrorism/insurgency suspects. These suspects have been held in custody, while undergoing profiling and further investigations by experts from the Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) and those who are found culpable are usually handed over to prosecuting agencies accordingly, while those who are not implicated in terrorism and insurgency are cleared and released to the state government for rehabilitation before they are reintegrated into the society.
“These cleared suspects are, therefore, not ex-Boko Haram fighters, as peddled in the said online report and as the masterminds would want to impress on the public. A total of 1009 cleared suspects, not ex fighters, were therefore released after this rigorous process on Wednesday 14 July 2021. It is also necessary to categorically state that the handing over of the cleared suspects was not shrouded in secrecy as it was witnessed by United Nations Humanitarian and government agencies, in tandem with global best practice.”
The army, therefore, urged the general public to discountenance the report, which it described as “misinformation” and “manipulation and distortion of the truth”.
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