The Presidency on Saturday said the
state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan in Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa states was meant to protect the civilian population and
the territory from the “macabre and dastardly assault” on the Nigerian
state by insurgents and terrorists.
This was contained in a statement made
available to journalists by the Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati.
Abati said the clarification became
necessary in view of attempts by sections of the media, especially the
foreign media, to mislead the public and the international community
about the ongoing exercise.
The presidential spokesman said in
executing the sovereign objective, Jonathan directed that the operations
be conducted in line with applicable rules of engagement and peculiar
care in managing a unique situation.
Abati said in an earlier statement, the
President had made it clear to the military that those who violate
operational orders would be disciplined.
The statement read in part, “In line
with the regard for the rights of the civilian population, President
Jonathan had ordered the release of women and under-aged persons in
protective custody, and made arrangements for their immediate
rehabilitation. Fifty-eight persons in this category have been released.
“The Armed Forces have also secured the
release of six women and children in Boko Haram captivity. There is
nothing to suggest so far any violation of operational orders by the
troops operating in the North-East.
“Their intervention has received popular
support among the civilian populace, and within two weeks of operation,
the possibility of calm and normalcy resonates even as enclaves of
terrorists are raided and their capacity to continue their reign of
terror heavily compromised.
“This is a process and the government owes it to the people of the North-East to see it through.”
Abati said the present administration
believed that media reporting of the reality of living in a state of
emergency was needed to keep the local and international community
well-informed and to hold accountable those prosecuting the military
operation to help build trust and sustain the public support needed to
build lasting peace.
“Rather curiously however, the last two
weeks have witnessed mischievous attempts by a section of the media to
generate negative propaganda around these operations in the North-East.
“Most recently, a video report by Al-Jazeera
titled “Civilians among dead in Nigeria offensive” sought to put the
government and the people of Nigeria in bad light. This is regrettable.
“While we welcome an open interrogation
of government’s activities, we reject any attempt to exploit the
security situation in the North-East to malign, discredit or otherwise
undermine the country’s efforts by other surreptitious means. There can
be no doubt that the Al-Jazeera report of May 31 is in very bad taste.
“Two quick points will highlight the
concerns here: The video is that of the unfortunate incident that
occurred in Bama on May 7 and has no connection with the current
operation. If anything, the victims shown in the video were those the
Boko Haram attacked before they launched an offensive on the Bama
prison.
Also, the claim that the man in uniform
shown in the video is a Nigerian soldier cannot be sustained, because in
a war-like theatre as we have on our hands, anybody could have been
clad in a military fatigue; and we have seen Boko Haram members appear
in military fatigue in their propaganda videos.”
In a related development, the authorities of the Defence Headquarters have also faulted the Al-jazeera report.
The DHQ said there was no damage of such recorded anywhere in the ongoing operation.
Director of Defence Information, Brig.
Gen Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail on Saturday that the
report was deliberately put together to discredit the ongoing military
operation.
Olukolade said it was rather unfortunate that Al-jazeera was being used to execute the plot to portray the military mission in bad light.
He said the video clips shown in Aljazeera
alleging mass civilian casualty did not reflect the reality on the
ground in the areas covered by the military operation which followed the
declaration of emergency rule in the area by the President.
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