Africa Advocacy for Leadership and Good Governance (AALG) as well as Transparency Network Centre (TNC) have pleaded with Nigerians to disregard skewed narratives against the Nigerian Army.
The pro-democracy groups noted that numerous publications as well as social media posts were deliberately sponsored by insurgents and their sympathisers to discredit the work of the Nigerian Army.
National Coordinator of AALG, Mahmud Bello and Executive Secretary of TNC, Bashorun Adegbite, in a statement issued on behalf of the group in Abuja, insisted that the Nigerian armed forces remained the best trained and equipped in Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa.
They said that since the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Faruk Yahaya, took over the mantle of leadership, soldiers have reduced the ferocity of the Boko Haram insurgents/ISWAP; curtailed farmers/herdsmen clashes across the country.
“…This is indeed the handiwork of mischief makers and Fifth Columnists, a propaganda troll orchestrated by enemies of our unity, peace and stability of the country, to give the impression that the insurgents are winning the battle and to project fears into Nigerians that we are at the losing end.
“We view this as a deliberate falsehood and misleading narrative invidiously orchestrated and calculated to tarnish the unblemished professional reputation of our distinguished military who have spent the better part of their life protecting and defending this country from external aggression and securing its territory.
“Ordinarily, we could have kept quiet as some of these subterranean moves are aimed at denigrating and maligning our national pride. The Nigerian Army has done its best in their hard-fought battles which these disgruntled elements now want to turn it into oblivion by falsely casting sensational headlines in favour of the insurgents and divisive elements across the country.”
Bello urged the media to be vigilant and not to be hoodwinked “by unscrupulous and criminal elements in the society to malign the good name and integrity of the Military and refrain from publishing any falsehood against the Nigerian Military without checking first with the authorities for fairness, objectivity and balanced reportage.”