Military alleges destabilisation plot, vows decisive action

The military has warned that some unpatriotic elements are planning to destabilise the country in the guise of agitations, maintaining its readiness to quell any threat to Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, disclosed this during a meeting with his Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), General Officers Commanding (GOCs), and Field Commanders yesterday at the Army Headquarters Conference Room in Abuja.

At a post-event press briefing, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, urged officers to remain focused and undeterred.

According to him, since the #EndSARS protests began, some unscrupulous individuals and groups have been determined to destabilise the country by all means.

“These individuals, groups, and other undesirable elements have hijacked the peaceful #EndSARS protests, resulting in widespread violence, acts of wanton destruction, and looting of public and private properties in many parts of the country. These acts led to the imposition of curfew in several states of the federation,” Buratai stated.

He added that the agitators were falsely accusing the Army of unprofessional conduct.

Claiming that no less than 10 AK-47 rifles had been lost to miscreants in the past two weeks across the federation, the COAS charged soldiers not to be afraid of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for discharging their legitimate duties creditably.

Buratai ordered the commanders to nip in the bud “this emerging trend at all cost,” directing them to warn their troops on internal security or those on guard duties outside the barracks to “be at maximum alert at all times and to deal decisively with any attack on their duty locations.”

However, he acknowledged that “there is no choice between a democratically united, strong and prosperous Nigeria and a nation disunited in a state of anarchy and retrogression, as the former is still preferred.”