The Nigerian Army has dismissed claims it attributed to the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) alleging that some officer of the Nigerian Army approached them for support to overthrow the government as false.
A statement from Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman on Thursday described the alleged coup plot as another campaign of calumny and distraction by a faceless criminal gang of economic saboteurs.
Usman said: “This is baseless and most unfortunate allegation that exists in the warped minds of the originators of such weighty allegation.
“The Nigerian Army wish to state that this is not true and hereby distanced itself from this weighty allegation,” he added.
He said “We also see this speculation as a dangerous distraction to our effort in fighting insurgency and other criminal elements in the country.”
Usman said: “The Nigerian Army would like to send a strong and an unequivocal warning to those speculating a coup by the Nigerian Army (NA) against the Government to desist forthwith.
He said the army is a product of democracy and a focused professional institution and would have nothing to do with such abomination and heinous crime.
He also said the army is the greatest beneficiary of democracy and cannot contemplate any anti-democratic misadventure, especially not under the command of the present Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai.
He noted that the army sees this type of dangerous speculation as declaration of war to destabilise the present government by these unscrupulous elements.
Usman further said the Army is investigating those behind the dangerous insinuation in order to unravel the real motive behind it.
He reiterated the army’s unalloyed loyalty to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and defence of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He also reaffirmed the army’s unconditional support and obedience to civil authority, whilst assuring Nigerians and all peace loving people that the Nigerian Army and its personnel will never be involved in such terrible misadventure.
“We wish to further add that no matter how long it takes, we would track and find out those behind these insinuations and bring them to justice,” he said.
