COVID-19: Army decries publication of memo on forced evacuation, restriction of movement

The Nigerian Army says that publications in some media platforms about a purported Federal Government’s plan to enforce military lockdown on Friday is false and misleading.

Nigerian Army Spokesperson, Colonel Sagir Musa, in a statement on Wednesday that the Army “dissociate itself from such false, speculative and vexatious publication designed by certain mischievous elements to create chaos, panic and disaffection in the society that could only serve the ulterior motives of its promoters.”

Colonel Musa explained that the document being quoted was a proactive directive for the Nigerian Army to prepare for possible escalation of the COVID -19 based on the happenings around the world on the pandemic.

Sources said that the Army’s grouse with the publication on activation of ‘OPERATION ONE-ELEVEN’ has nothing to do with the authenticity of the memo but that it breaches the secrecy for which such memos as it was not for public knowledge. The Army suspects that it was leaked to the media, deliberately. The second grouse was that the publication of the date for the likely take off of the operation exposes it. Therefore it is definitely likely to be stood down for now.

According to him, “the misinterpretation that government is locking down the entire country and pulling out the Army by Friday, March 27, is utterly false and baseless. The Nigerian Army considers the publication and negative interpretation being given the content of the classified document containing information meant for the army personnel as a violation of the Official Secret Act.”

Musa assured that Nigerian Army would continue to be professional, proactive and responsive in support of the constitution, democracy and government in line with its constitutional mandate of providing aid to civil authority.

He added that the Army would leave no stone unturned to prepare to support the civil authority in times of emergencies of national magnitude.

“The mischief of some unpatriotic few will not dissuade the Nigerian Army from working with sister services, the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to keep Nigeria safe. The Nigerian Army calls on the general public to discountenance the publication going round that the Federal Government is locking down Nigeria by Friday on the basis of the content of the directive to military formations to take proactive measures to prepare for possible call out to assist civil authority in the case of COVID-19 getting worse in the country,” he said.