The Nigerian Army says no soldier or group of soldiers is attached to any politician or political party in any state in the South-East.
Col. Sagir Musa, Deputy Director, Public Relations of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, made this known in a statement issued to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Saturday.
The statement was entitled: “No soldier is attached to any politician in Abia state and the entire South-East geopolitical zone.’’ Musa said that the Nigerian army would “remain apolitical, neutral and totally insulated from any form of politics.”
He further said they would have no attachment to any politician or political party before, during and after the general elections.
According to him, the Nigerian Army’s Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement are unambiguous and did not include attaching soldiers to politicians.
He said that at no time had any personnel of the Nigeria Army been attached to a prominent politician in Abia state or any other state in the South-East.
The army spokesman challenged anybody with a contrary claim to produce photo or video evidence for further proof.
Musa was reacting to an online publication, in which the army was accused of having posted “dozens of soldiers” to a prominent politician in Abia.”
He said that the report further alleged that the politician was using the army personnel “to instigate violence in the state.”
“Based on this hollow allegation, the 14 Brigade and indeed the 82 Division Nigerian Army hereby restate that there is not a single soldier or group of soldiers attached to any political figure in Abia.
“Nigerian Army personnel will remain totally insulated from any form of politics, political party leaning or attachment to any politician before, during and after the 2019 general elections,’’ Musa said.
He called on politicians to desist from associating Army personnel with politicians, saying that it would no longer be condoned. (NAN)