The Nigerian Army says it takes the weighty allegations made against it by the Prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Kanu Uche seriously.
The Prelate was abducted Sunday afternoon, May 30, 2022, at Umunneochi, along the Enugu-Porthacourt Expressway on his way to the Enugu Airport, after he attended a Church Service at Isuochi. Abducted along with him were the Bishop of Owerri Diocese, His Lordship, the Rt. Rev. Dennis Mark, and the Prelate’s Chaplain.
Ironically, Prelate Uche is a native of the area he was kidnapped.
Stung by his abduction, the Umunneochi youths, on Wednesday, blocked both sides of the Expressway, demanding for the relocation of the Military Barracks in the area, accusing the Army of being behind the incessant abductions in the area. They also demanded for the relocation of the Cattle Market at Lokpanta.
Their demands stem from the press interview granted by Uche after they were released on payment of a N100 million ransome.
In the interview, the Prelate said the eight hoodlums who abducted them are of the Fulani stock.
But more damaging is the Prelate’s insistence that troops of the Nigerian Army in the area are working hand in hand with the kidnappers. He also alleged that the soldiers, all of the Fulani stock, usually look elsewhere and give protection to the hoodlums.
Embarrassed by the allegation, the Army has not only denied it, it is asking for proof. More worrisome to the Army is that a whopping sum of N100m was paid to the hoodlums in less than 24 hours.
In a statement, Army Spokesperson, Brigadier- General Onyema Nwachukwu asked for an explanation. He vehemently denied the involvement of the Army in the atrocious business, and asked if the N100m was delivered to the soldiers. He also said that nobody reported any such incident to the Army stationed around the area.
Nwachukwu said the Army, because it sees the allegations as very weighty and takes it serious, would want to debrief the Prelate.
Nwachukwu: “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been notified of the insinuation making the rounds on social media, alleging complicity of troops of the Nigerian Army in the kidnap incident of the Methodist Prelate in Abia state recently.
“While the Nigerian Army expresses concern and sympathy for the victim of this heinous crime and shares in his pains, the insinuation that troops are complicit in the kidnap incident is not entirely premised on any findings of investigations and, therefore, cannot be swallowed hook line and sinker.
“This allegation, therefore, raises some pertinent questions which are still unanswered. Given the spate of insecurity in the region, the questions would be: Was the issue reported to the unit covering the area? Did the Methodist Church take the NA into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers? No formal complaint has been received by the unit.
“More worrisome is the fact that it was alleged that the ransom was paid in less than 24 hours. Was the ransom paid to troops?
“These are questions that beg for answers. Moreso, the NA unit has not received any debrief from the Prelate or the Methodist Church.
“It is, therefore, important to state that troops are deployed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Okigwe and in front of the Abia State University, Uturu and no information was made available to them or to 14 Brigade or any other formation, except the information making the rounds in the social media.
“It must be clarified that troops’ deployment in the Nigerian Army is not done with considerations for ethnic affiliation, hence the deployment of troops of Fulani ethnic extraction who, as alleged by the Prelate, carried out the dastardly act, is not our practice or modus operandi in the NA.
“Given our professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army, we will take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the Prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation.”
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
