The Nigerian Army has accused the Eastern Security Network of being behind a viral video showing some individuals in Military camouflage destroying a farmland in the South-eastern part of the country.
The viral video has been branded ‘fake’ by the Army. In a statement made available to POLITICS NIGERIA signed by the director of Army public relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the footage was part of the ESN/IPOB’s propaganda to paint the reputation of the army in a bad light.
The statement read; “The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has been drawn to a doctored video footage released by secessionist sympathisers on Youtube, featuring blurred images of some persons dressed in green camouflage destroying a farmland in an undisclosed location, recently.”
“In an attempt to denegrate the reputation and image of the NA, authors of the video mischievously attributed the action of the persons to the military by falsely claiming they are soldiers and invariably personnel of the Nigerian Army.”
“However, following a fact finding investigation on the video by subjecting it to credible reverse image, it was discovered that the video was first published on YouTube channel “BIAFRA BOY” . The investigation also revealed that the image of the men in green camouflage was deliberately blurred to conceal their identity from viewers. Similarly the authors failed to identify the location, community, or Local Government Area the incident occured.”
“Given these facts, it is apparent that the video footage is a deliberate propaganda by ESN to bring the reputation and image of the NA to disrepute by portraying personnel of the NA as enemies of the people. Members of the general public are please urged to be warry of such negative propaganda materials and subject them to thorough scrutiny. We therefore urge the public to please discountenance the propaganda video as it is the machination of mischief makers targeting the Nigerian military.”
“We reassure the general public that the Nigerian Army will continue to operate professionally regardless of all divisive propaganda. We assure all peace loving Nigerians of our commitment to aid civil authorities in the containment of security challenges in line with constitutional provisions.”
