The Nigerian Army on Wednesday responded to the claim by the Prelate of the Methodist Church who was kidnapped on Sunday, His Eminence Samuel Kanu-Uche, that its troops were complicit in his abduction.
The Methodist Church of Nigeria coughed out N100 million Naira to pay the herdsmen who abducted the prelate, the bishop of Owerri, Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark and the Prelate’s chaplain, on Sunday in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia, to buy their freedom.
The Clergyman who recounted his experience at the kidnappers den alleged complicity of troops of the Nigerian Army in the heinous crime in a press conference in Lagos.
But the Director Army Public Relations, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu countered in a statement on Wednesday that the Prelate’s claim was not the result of an investigation and should not be believed without examination.
Nwanchukwu argued that the Nigerian Army was not taken into confidence on the issue of the payment of ransom, which he said was not paid to troops?
He said that no information of the crime was volunteered to the troops deployed in the area or the Army Brigade in Abia State.
The Army Spokesman faulted the claim that troops of Fulani extraction deployed in the area carried out the dastardly act saying the Army does not deploy troops along ethnic considerations.
He gave the assurance that the Army which has zero tolerance for troops misconduct will treat the Prelate’s allegation with the deserved seriousness to uncover the reason behind it.
His statement, “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been notified of the insinuation making the rounds on social media, alleging complicity of troops of the Nigerian Army in the kidnap incident of the Methodist Prelate in Abia state recently.
“While the Nigerian Army expresses concern and sympathy for the victim of this heinous crime and shares in his pains, the insinuation that troops are complicit in the kidnap incident is not entirely premised on any findings of investigations and therefore cannot be swallowed hook line and sinker.
“This allegation therefore raises some pertinent questions which are still unanswered.
“Given, the spate of insecurity in the region, the question would be, was the issue reported to the unit covering the area? Did the Methodist Church take the NA into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers? No formal complaint has been received by the unit. More worrisome is the fact that it was alleged that the ransom was paid in less than 24 hours. Was the ransome paid to troops? These are questions that beg for answers.
“Moreso, the NA unit, has not received any debrief from the Prelate or the Methodist Church.
“It is therefore, important to state that troops are deployed at Forward Operating Base(FOB) Okigwe and in front of the Abia State University Uturu and no information was made available to them or to 14 Brigade or any other formation, except the information making the rounds in the social media.
“It must be clarified that troops’ deployment in the Nigerian Army is not done with considerations for ethnic affiliation, hence a deployment of troops of Fulani ethnic extraction who as alleged by the Prelate, carried out the dastardly act is not our practice or modus operandi in the NA.
“Given our professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army , we will take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the Prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation.”
