- Nigerian troops of the Operation Lafiya Dole
theatre command have reacted reports by
Amnesty International which claimed that they
abandoned their duty
- The troops said they did not abandon their duty
neither were they aware of the killing of 60
civilians at Rann, a town in Kala Balge local
government area in Borno state
- The soldiers, however, called on the
international and local communities to support
them bring the dastardly and mindless acts of
Boko Haram terrorists to a decisive end
Nigerian Army has condemned alleged reports by
Amnesty International claiming that the troops'
abandonment of their deployment led to the
killing of 60 civilians at Rann, a town in Kala
Balge local government area in Borno state, on
Thursday, January 28.
This is contained in a statement signed by the
deputy director Army public relations of sector 1
that the Theatre commander, Major General
Benson Akinroluyo and the Commander Sector 1
Operation Lafiya Dole Brigadier General Bulama
Biu.
The statement read: ''Contrary to AI's claims, at
no point of the assessment , was any report of
the killing of 60 civilians made either by the
civilians themselves, whom the sector commander
interacted with or by the members of the Joint
Task Force who were at hand during the
assessment.
''Again a Search and Rescue Operation that
followed after the attack did not recover the said
60 bodies of killed civilians as AI would want
members of the public to believe.
''The troops commenced a clearance operation in
villages surrounding Rann and destroyed Boko
Haram terrorists camps that were uncovered
during the operation. In one of such clearance
operations on 30 January 2019, the troops
encountered an ambush staged by the terrorists
along Gamboru - Mafa road and gallantly fought
through it, overpowering the insurgents.
''Another issue in the controvertible AI report is
the alleged attack on Rann on 28 January 2019,
where as, there was no such attack. Rather, an
alarm was raised by IDPs in Rann of the sudden
withdrawal of Multinational Joint Task Force
( MNJTF) troops from the location, to which the
authorities of Operation LAFIYA quickly responded,
following which the Commander Sector 1 returned
to Rann on Monday 29 January with
reinforcement troops to beef-up and support the
troops there.
''The astronomical statistics of human casualty
touted by AI and the alleged abdication of duty
by our selfless and resilient troops cannot hold
water in the face of facts of the several exemplary
physical involvements of the Theatre commander
and the commander Sector 1 as well as
Commanders of 22 Brigade and 3 Battalion in
ensuring normalcy returns to Rann and the
reinforcement and replenishment of the troops.
''Evidently, in its characteristic inclination to
swiftly accuse the Nigerian military of wrong
doing, AI failed again to conduct a validity check
on its manufactured data before cooking its
report.
''No doubt, in battles, collateral damages are
unfortunately incurred and troops in the front line
are first victims to suffer such damages, up to the
point of sacrificing their lives, as they are saddled
with the duty to defend their country and the
citizenry. We are deeply touched by the demise of
those who fell during the callous attack of Rann
by Boko Haram terrorists.
''We are also empathic with humanitarian
organizations as well as members of International
and local NGOs who were affected by the attack.
It is indeed another reminder and clarion call on
the international and local communities to
support the Nigerian military to bring the
dastardly and mindless acts of Boko terrorists to
a decisive end.''
The suspension was contained in a statement by
Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu, deputy director of
public relations, theatre command.
source:
www.legit.ng/1219484-alleged-killing-60-civilians-amnesty-international-claims-rann-untrue-army.html
