THE Nigeria Army say they are not recruiting surrendered members of the dreaded Boko Haram and Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) into their ranks.
In a statement on Wednesday, Director Army Public Relations Officer Onyema Nwachukwu described reports that the military were recruiting the insurgents into the workforce as “unfounded and baseles.”
He said the campaign of falsehood embarked upon by some individuals who did not wish the nation well would not distract personnel from their resolve to end the country’s violent crimes.
Nwachukwu noted that while it was necessary to raise concerns on Afghanistan’s political and security situations where the Taliban had seized power from a democratically and legitimate government, the way some people were doing that was inappropriate.
“While it is understood that the situation in Afghanistan calls for concerns by any right thinking person or organisation, the manner in which the comic Young Elder presented it shows his lack of basic knowledge on the subject he hurriedly delved into,” he said.
“The amateurish production conjured some unfounded and baseless claims that only exist in the figment of their imagination, claiming that surrendered terrorists were going to be absorbed into the Nigerian Army.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NA does not have any repentant terrorist joining its ranks and does not have any plan for that.”
He warned authors of such reports to desist from peddling fake news about the military and joined in the act of nation-building.
He said there were well able-bodied young Nigerians if the Army were in dire need of recruiting more personnel into their rank.
He assured Nigerians that the Army under the current leadership would continue to conduct their affairs under the dictates of the law.
The Federal Government recently said it had no plans to recruit the surrendered terrorists into the nation’s military.
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed gave the assurance in an interview with journalists in Washington DC last Friday.
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