The General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Major General Kasimu Abdulkarim has denied that the military was used to disrupt the Rivers rerun elections as alleged in different quarters. He further denied that there were mass arrests of civilians by the troops.
He made this known in a statement: “The alleged killing and mass arrest by soldiers in Tai, Ogoni, Gokhna-Ogoni LGA of Rivers State were false. It is true that soldiers of 6 Division, Nigerian Army provided security during the Rivers State Legislative Re-run Election that was conducted Saturday.
“In addition, the allegations made by some respected politicians regarding deep involvement of soldiers during the elections were aimed at tarnishing the positive image of the Army. These people allegedly accused soldiers of ballot box snatching, illegal escorts of some politicians, arrest and detention of voters during the general conduct of the elections.
“The weighty nature of these allegations could cause members of the public to view soldiers negatively, hence the need to adequately inform the general public on the true perspective. The public thus need to consider them as mere farce to garner public sympathy.
“The 6 Division, Nigerian Army remained apolitical in the conduct of the election. Its soldiers provided perimeter defence to ward off hoodlums and miscreants. Nigerian Army troops were in no way involved in any form of ballot box snatching, neither were they involved in the escort of politicians as alleged.
“They acted swiftly in response to security breaches in order to enforce the law, provide aid to the Nigeria Police and other security agencies especially in areas like Abonema, Etche, Gokhana, Ikwere, Eleme, Tai, Khana and Omoku amongst others.
“Susceptibility of mentioned areas warranted providing security for the electoral officials, voters, international and local observers, in conjunction with other security agencies by soldiers for a peaceful election to thrive in the environment.
“These areas were rife with armed men that engaged security personnel. In Gokhana, armed hoodlums engaged the soldiers providing outer perimeter defence for the electorate. In Abonnema at 0730 hours Saturday, there were three explosions that created bedlam.”
The statement continued: “Subsequently, 11 NYSC members were abducted along with electoral materials. However, 10 of them were rescued two hours later by soldiers while one was rescued about eight hours later.
“At Emohua, Mr Oblewaremu abducted five NYSC members with election materials in a Siena bus. The corps members were rescued while the suspect was handed over to the Police.
“Several shootings were recorded in some communities such as Bodo, the home town of the secretary to the State Government, B-dere and Mogho in Gokana LGA, including snatching of ballot boxes.