From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Nigerian Army has faulted claims by the Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, Samuel Kanu Uche, alleging the complicity of its troops in his recent kidnap incident in Abia state, where the church paid a whooping N100 million to regain his freedom.
The army has also faulted claims by the prelate that soldiers of Fulani extraction allegedly carried out the act, saying troops deployment in the army is not done with considerations to ethnic affiliation.
Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, who made the clarification in a statement, yesterday, said that given the professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army, the service would take the weighty allegation seriously and approach the prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation.
He said while the army sympathised with the prelate and other kidnapped members of the church and shared in their pains, the insinuation that troops were complicit in the kidnap incident was not entirely premised on any findings of investigations and, therefore, could not be swallowed hook line and sinker.
Nwachukwu, while noting that the incident was never reported to the nearest army unit in the area when it occurred, said that the Methodist Church did not take the army into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers.
He said: “No formal complaint has been received by the unit. More worrisome is the fact that it was alleged that the ransom was paid in less than 24 hours. Was the ransom paid to troops? These are questions that beg for answers.”
He added: “Given the spate of insecurity in the region, the question would be, was the issue reported to the unit covering the area? Did the Methodist Church take the NA into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers? No formal complaint has been received by the unit.
“Moreover, the NA unit has not received any debrief from the Prelate or the Methodist Church.
It is, therefore, important to state that troops are deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Okigwe and in front of the Abia State University Uturu, and no information was made available to them or to 14 Brigade or any other formation, except the information making the rounds in the social media.
“It must be clarified that troops’ deployment in the Nigerian Army is not done with considerations for ethnic affiliation, hence, a deployment of troops of Fulani ethnic extraction, who, as alleged by the prelate, carried out the dastardly act is not our practice or modus operandi in the NA.
“Given our professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army, we will take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation.”