Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, has condemned what he considered to be a campaign of calumny aimed at discrediting the ongoing anti-terrorism war.
He said the “unpatriotic posture” was capable of undermining the country’s external reputation, while demoralising the troops who are involved in the current campaign to rid Nigeria of insurgents.
Olukolade, who noted this on Monday in a series of tweets, said some media had mischievously attributed the recorded gains against Boko Haram to the efforts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger to the detriment of Nigerian soldiers.
While he acknowledged the supportive role played by troops from the neighbouring countries, he stressed that the war was “comprehensively driven” by the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The spokesman was worried that negative reports could dampen the rising morale of the country’s soldiers and also create a rift between them and other participating troops.
He tweeted, “In a bid to spitefully undermine the efforts of our troops, some groups of people have been mischievously and exaggeratingly reporting the supportive roles of foreign allies to the detriment of our operational success in the fight against terrorism.
“They go to any extent to ridicule, taunt or project every falsehood purely to score some points in clandestine sympathy for the terrorists. This unpatriotic posture is directly or indirectly undermining the esteemed status of Nigeria in the comity of nation.”
Olukolade urged the media to guard against “mischief and conspiracy by some theorists” who are determined to destroy the public confidence enjoyed by the military.
He claimed the conspirators were working on “a well-rehearsed smear campaign” against the Nigerian military.
Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger had earlier in the year launched a joint offensive against Boko Haram following the spread of its murderous acivities to the neighbouring countries. The alliance, which evolved from an extensive negotiation, led to the creation of the Multinational Joint Task Force.
The spokesman said the alleged conspirators had misinterpreted the fruits of the collaboration to undermine efforts made by the Nigerian military to end threat from terrorists.
“Unfortunately, some interest groups who misinterpret this fruitful collaboration seek to drive a wedge between the Nigerian military and supporting military formations by deliberately trying to ridicule the effort of the Nigerian forces.
“If other militaries that have just joined the war would be described in some warped reports as ‘battle-hardened’, the antics of some foreign media and their local collaborators, who will stop at nothing to bring our military to disrepute, is no longer new,” he observed.
The spokesman, however, said the Nigerian military would not be distracted but sustain the “current momentum” that has cost the terrorists several losses.
He also argued that the military had never compromised the sovereignty of Nigeria in its collaboration with the allied troops, adding that it would not take anything for granted in the course of the war.
“Other members of the MNJTF have, so far, successfully denied the common enemy freedom of trans-border operations. This is in consonance with the idea of the multinational coalition initiated as far back as 1998,” Olukolade emphasised.
Olukolade called on Nigerians to remain vigilant and to watch out “for unrepentant terrorists, collaborators and sympathisers”, nothing that no country goes to war with only military without involving “other segments of the society.”
Yet, Olukolade’s tweets were greeted with counter-arguments from a section of the social media users.
One Chris Ochiagha argued that it took the intervention of the armies from Cameroon, Chad and Niger, which the army chief said were playing a secondary role, before Nigerians started feeling the impact of the war.
He urged the spokesman to give credit to the neighbouring countries and stop praising the efforts of Nigerian military.
Olukolade also had to assuage the fear expressed by another tweeter, Adekunle Aliu, who alleged that the military had taken a partisan path in recent times.
The spokesman argued that the Nigerian military was not working for the ruling party but “serving the interest of all.”
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