 |
| Nigerian military |
The Nigerian Army has said an article published by London-based news magazine, The Economist, was crafted to denigrate, demonise and destabilise the Nigerian government.
The article titled, ‘The Crime Scene at the Heart of Africa,’ was published in the magazine’s October 23, 2021, issue.
It described the government of President Muhammadu Buhari as inept and high-handed, adding that it had also failed to tackle corruption.
It also alleged that the Nigerian Army, which it described as “mighty on paper,” often sold equipment to insurgents who destabilise the nation.
Reacting, the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Saturday, described the article as orchestrated by a network of detractors and coven of dark forces working very hard to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unfitting garb of infamy.
The statement read, “The Nigerian Army has been notified of a recent article published in the online version of the “Economist”, a London-based magazine, titled, “Insurgency, Secessionism and Banditry Threaten Nigeria,” which was ostensibly crafted to denigrate, demonise and destabilise the Nigerian Government. The report also contained some unimaginable slurs targeted at the Nigerian Military and the Nigerian Army in particular, to which we would like to respond.
“Even as the real intention of the otherwise respected Economist magazine in publishing such toxic concoctions weaved up as report on Nigerian Government’s response to the multi-faceted security challenges assailing the country is yet to be unravelled, the source of the article is very clear. It is one of those deliberate falsehood and noxious narratives orchestrated by a network of detractors and coven of dark forces working very hard to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unfitting garb of infamy. The vile report which the Economist chose to offer its platform for publication, spared no effort in trying to vilify and rubbish the image, character and reputational standing of the Nigerian Army, but failed woefully.