THE Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said the military is better off under democracy, while it further condemned calls for it to interfere in the nation’s democracy.
The defence headquarters stance was disclosed in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Tukur Gusau, on the evening of Friday, August 11, in Abuja.
According to the statement, the call for military intervention in democracy is highly unpatriotic and wicked.
It also warned against attempts by unpatriotic elements to distract the military from performing its constitutional responsibilities.
Gusau added that the DHQ frowned at the report being circulated online about welfare issues in the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
He said the armed forces leadership has prioritised the welfare of its personnel and will continue to do so.
“The military hierarchy detests any attempt by any individual or group to instigate the law-abiding military to embark on any unconstitutional change of government in the country.
“We wish to state unequivocally that the military is happy and better under democracy and will not get involved in any act to sabotage the hard-earned democracy in our country,” Gusau said.
He remarked that the armed forces, under the leadership of a general, Christopher Musa, is determined to ensure its complete subordination to constitutional authority under President Bola Tinubu.
The statement added that it would not be distracted from its roles that are well defined in the 1999 constitution (as amended).
There have been calls on social media recently for the military to intervene in Nigeria.
The call was heightened by the difficulty faced by Nigerians after the fuel subsidy removal and the recent successful coup in the neighbouring Niger Republic.
Meanwhile, the DHQ said troops of the Nigerian army have killed 38 suspected terrorists in one week across the country’s six geo-political zones.
The Director of defence media operations, Edward Buba, disclosed this to journalists yesterday.
Buba said soldiers also apprehended 242 suspects and rescued 89 hostages during different operations nationwide.
He said the suspects include 175 gunmen, 20 kidnappers, 30 collaborators and 17 pipeline vandals.
He continued by saying that the troops had also found stolen crude oil worth N607 million.
A reporter with the ICIR
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