The Nigerian Army has expressed dismay at what it calls “misinformation” about images and videos of bodies allegedly dumped on roadsides in the South East.
The videos and gory images have found their ways into the social media, a Press release signed by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, has stated.
Taking to its verified Twitter handle @HQNigerianArmy, the tweet reads: “The Nigerian Army has observed with dismay that various social media platforms, of recent, have been inundated with gory images and horrific videos of few recycled corpses dumped at roadsides and refuse sites in Obingwa-Asa-Aba axis of Abia State and other targeted areas in the South East zone.
“Members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra have been alleged to be behind the violence-inciting posts on Facebook and other sites, apparently
to create panic and tension among the general public in their ill motive towards free, fair and credible 2019 general elections.
“The illegal group is using the gory images for falsehood and hate speech to also portray the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in bad light, especially in the South-East and truncate the successes of Exercise EGWU EKE 111.
“The posting and circulation of the disgusting videos and pictures is a wicked plot and deliberate campaign targeted at smearing the reputation of the military and other
security agencies.
“The intention of the peddlers of those images is to insinuate that the bodies were victims of security clampdown in some parts of the country, especially in the
South-East.”
Continuing, the release adds that some of the images and videos analysed by the intelligence services show that most of the corpses were suspected to be victims of road accidents, jungle justice and/or ritual killers.
“None of the images or videos could be attributed to any military operation, as there were no footage to indicate so. While the Nigerian Army will ensure the peddlers of such fake news and hate speech that could create insecurity in the country are nabbed for prosecution, the public are urged to ignore such wicked and sickening propaganda (meant) to hoodwink the citizens.”
The release states that the Nigerian Army found it necessary to call on relevant authorities, most especially health and emergency agencies at the state and local government levels, to be proactive in ensuring adequate evacuation of corpses of victims of road accidents, ritual killings and jungle justice in some communities.