Nigerian Army has reacted to a viral video in which a soldier was seen asking for prayers as he said his colleagues ran away and abandoned him in the bush while in contact with terrorists group.
The distressed soldier who did a selfie video recording while looking scared, said he’s the only one now in the bush finding his way out for safety.
But the authority of the Nigerian Army in a Press Release few minutes ago dismissed the claim of the soldier and accused the soldier of trying to be smart in covering up the truth. That, he’s the one who ran away from the warfront and in order not to be accused of cowardice, he quickly moved to social media to give misleading information and wrong impression to win public sentiments.
The Army Press Release signed by Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Nigerian Army Director of Public Relations, indicated that the soldier deliberately recorded the video to shield himself from being accused of cowardice in the ongoing clearance operation in Gurara local government area of Niger State.
The Army statement reads thus:
The attention of the Nigerian Army(NA) has been drawn to a viral video making the rounds on the social media, where a soldier on Wednesday, 30 March 2022 claimed to have been abandoned by his colleagues during operations.
Contrary to the claims and impression created by the soldier in the video footage, preliminary investigations have revealed that the video footage was a deliberate attempt to shield himself from being accused of cowardice, having abandoned his colleagues during an ongoing clearance operation in Gurara, Niger State.
It could be recalled that troops of the Nigerian Army, recently carried out a clearance operation in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State.
Disappointingly, during an encounter, the said soldier abandoned his colleagues and absconded in an outright display of cowardice and possible sabotage, which negate the precepts of the military profession.
Sensing the gravity of his action and its consequences, the soldier surreptitiously uploaded the video online in a calculated attempt to whip-up public sentiment and cover up his act of cowardice.
The soldier’s action amounts to a betrayal of the esprit de corps and comradery that are synomous with a military unit and fighting formation, particularly during operations.
The soldier’s conduct is therefore an aberration and against the ethics and core values of the military profession.
The video footage is thus, in all intent, and purpose a misrepresentation of what actually transpired between the soldier and his colleagues.
The soldier has rejoined his unit and further investigations are currently ongoing to unravel the reasons behind his unprofessional conduct.
