Tukur Buratai, a lt-gen and chief
of army staff, says soldiers only tried to enforce compliance with the curfew
imposed during the #EndSARS protests.
He said the army is now being
“falsely” held responsible for the “activities of the miscreants”.
Although Buratai did not
specifically mention the Lekki shooting, it was on the day that Lagos state
government imposed a 24-hour curfew that men in army uniform invaded the
protest ground and opened fire at protesters.
There are disputed claims on
fatalities from the shooting.
At a conference with army
commanders in Abuja on the #EndSARS incident on Monday, Buratai accused some
international organisations of threatening military officers with travel ban
over alleged violations of human rights.
According to a statement released
by Sagir Musa, a colonel and acting director of army public relations, Buratai
said right from the onset of ENDSARS protest, “the NA (Nigerian Army) has been
aware of the grand design by the sponsors of the protests to draw it into the
crisis.
“The plan was to embark on
massive propaganda to discredit the military and the government so as to set
the people against the NA once it is called out to aid the civil authorities.
The NA being aware of the devilish plan was careful not to be dragged in and
issued the initial warning through a press release on 14 October 2020 of our
resolve to secure and safeguard a United Nigeria.
“Now the detractors alongside
their local and international collaborators have mischievously and deliberately
misrepresented troops’ efforts to ensure compliance with the curfew imposed by
legitimate civil authorities in Lagos and other states.
“These agitators are falsely
accusing the NA of being responsible for the activities of the miscreants
despite glaring evidence to the contrary. They have continually threatened to
report the NA to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and also threatened
various forms of sanctions against personnel and their families.
“Thankfully however, a large percentage
of Nigerians and the international community have started seeing through the
smokescreen of falsehood and deliberate misrepresentation of facts being
orchestrated by enemies of Nigeria and have retracted their earlier false
publications.”
Buratai said: “Criminal elements
are threatening us with travel ban but we are not worried because we must
remain in this country to make it better.
“The first time I travelled
outside of this country, I was already 50 years and a general, so I don’t mind
if I live the rest of my life here.”
It is not clear yet which of the
international organisations issued the threat.
Some Nigerians had called on the
international community to place a visa ban on those responsible for the
shooting of peaceful protesters.
The army chief said they will not
allow any agent in or outside Nigeria to set the country on fire.
He said the army remains resolute
in doing everything possible to ensure that ”subversive elements, detractors
and other enemies of Nigeria do not achieve their aims and objectives of
destabilisation”.
“The events of the past few days
in our dear nation have shown the determination of some unscrupulous
individuals and groups to destabilise Nigeria by all means,” he said.
“These individuals, groups and
other undesirable elements have hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protest marches
resulting to widespread violence, acts of wanton destruction and looting of
public and private properties in many parts of the country. These acts led to
the imposition of curfew in several states of the federation.
“Despite all these, the army has
continued to exercise restraint applied
all the principles of internal security operations and fully abided by the
internationally recognised rules of engagement as contained in our published
standard operating procedures for internal security operations which are
derived from the International human rights laws and are in accordance with the
international principles guiding the use of force.”
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THE GENERAL IS A BIG LIAR, HE CAN'T TELL US HE NEVER TRAVELED OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY FOR A SHORT COURSE OR TRAINING BEFORE BECOMING A GENERAL
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