Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters on Sunday said “the Armed Forces of Nigeria remains apolitical and would not hesitate to deal decisively with any person or group of persons that want to tarnish its image or draw it into partisan politics.”
Defence Headquarters therefore described an online report of a warning by it warning politicians and officers against planning a coup against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari as the handwork of “mischief makers and enemies of the State.”
Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Defence Headquarters, Brigadier General Bernard Onyeuko, said in a statement on Sunday that the report is also “a deliberate and calculated attempt to mislead the general public aimed at causing disharmony in the polity.”
The full statement reads: “The attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to a misleading publication by an online newspaper Naija News House on Nigeria military warning politicians and officers against a Coup which it credited to Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu- the Army Spokesman.
“The publication is a handiwork of mischief makers and enemies of the state. It is a deliberate and calculated attempt to mislead the general public aimed at causing disharmony in the polity.
“The online newspaper manipulated with the intent of disinformation a previous message released in May 2021 by the then Director Defence Information who is the current Army spokesperson. It is a malicious attempt to bring the military to disrepute. It is obvious that the online newspaper has it’s own sinister intention to cause confusion.
“The Military High Command hereby warns all mischief makers and their proxies not to draw the military into their engagements. The Armed Forces of Nigeria remains apolitical and would not hesitate to deal decisively with any person or group of persons that want to tarnish its image or draw it into partisan politics.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria remains loyal to President Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces -President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and also sworn to defend our democracy as well the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
