Earlier inthe day, the shocking photos of over 30 men lined up in a field and allegedly shot to death went viral However
in a new press release by the Defence headquarters,the Nigerian
military says claims by the Cleric who posted the photos are malicious
as they have nothing to do with it..
"The DHQ wishes to unequivocally dissociate the Nigerian military from
any involvement in the alleged genocide as depicted in the graphic
pictures which appeared in the front page of Blueprint newspapers of 22 May 2014 edition entitled, “Alleged Killing field in Borno”.
While the military will continue to respect freedom of expression
of Nigerians, it will not submit to desperate blackmail and propaganda
aimed at diverting attention and pitching public opinion against the
armed forces. Although the real motive of the report and presentation
with the apparent intention to impute military complicity in the event
depicted in the pictures is yet to unfold, the DHQ sees this allegation
as the manifestation of yet another grand design to tarnish and
denigrate the image of Nigerian Armed Forces.
The Nigerian military remains a professional force whose operations is
guided by high standard of professional ethics and will not be party to
such dastardly act. At no time or event in the course of the
counter-insurgency operation have the troops embarked on the
extra-judicial killing of civilians as exhibited in the gory pictures.
The location and occasion where the events captured in the pictures were
taken is unknown and has no bearing whatsoever as insinuated in the
report by the Blueprint newspaper. The individual holding stick which
the paper mischievously described as “a soldier stand(ing) guard…” is
certainly not a Nigerian soldier neither is any of those captured in the
pictures.
The media are once again advised not to make themselves available to
those who are desperate to tarnish the good name of the Nigerian Armed
Forces
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