General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff, has revealed that the security agencies and the military are constantly under pressure to compromise during elections through various financial inducements, but he has urged Nigerians to place their trust in the military as it strives to maintain neutrality in accordance with the president’s directive.
During today’s Ministerial weekly briefing, the Chief of Defense Staff stated that personnel are being trained to follow the codified rules of engagement before, during, and after the elections, providing updates on the Military’s progress against insurgency, terrorism, and banditry.
The CDS further reveals that over 300,000 persons have been freed from the hands of abductors since 2016 while refugees who fled the northeast owing to insurgency have started to return.
He admits that there still exits Internal sabotage within the military, but asserts that they have not succeeded. It is for this reason he debunks a recent allegation by an international news media which accused the military of carrying out over 10,000 illegal abortions on female victims of the war in the North east.
According to him, it is impossible for the military to have been engaged in a planned abortion program since 2013 and as the military commander in charge of Operation Lafia Dole between 2016 and 2017, he never heard of any such thing.
He therefore condemns the report in its entirety, noting that the military is not unaware of extra territorial elements who do not peace to fester in the country.
The CDS also revisted the alleged Lekki toll gate massacre in 2020, insisting that the Nigerian military is not interested in killing its own people, but rather more concerned in protecting the citizens.
He added that the efforts of the military in the fight against crude oil theft have been yielding positive results with the increase in the crude oil production of 1.6 million barrels per day.