Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described as unpatriotic, Nigerians calling for the International Criminal Court to probe the immediate-past service chiefs.
Mohammed spoke on Tuesday during a Radio Nigeria programme,
Politics
Nationwide, monitored by The PUNCH.
The PUNCH had reported that the
President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), appointed four new service
chiefs last week after much clamour from Nigerians that he bring in fresh hands
to pilot the country’s anti-terrorism war.
The new service chiefs are Major-General Leo Irabor as Chief of
Defence Staff; Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru as Chief of Army Staff; Rear
Admiral A.Z Gambo as Chief of Naval Staff; and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao as
Chief of Air Staff.
The new service chiefs took over from the ex-service chiefs
—General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (Chief of Defence Staff); Lt. Gen. Tukur
Buratai (Chief of Army Staff); Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas (Chief of Naval Staff);
and Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff).
But the Peoples Democratic Party and some other Nigerians have
since demanded the probe of the Olonisakin, Buratai, Ibas and Abubakar to
unravel circumstances behind the security lapses during their tenure.
Reacting on Tuesday, the minister said, “To the best of my
knowledge, our service chiefs obey the rules of engagement and where there are
infractions, there are internal regulations and internal mechanisms to address
them.
“Those who are calling for the ex-service chiefs to be invited
to ICC are unpatriotic people.”
Mohammed also said civilians are not competent to talk on
military structure and formations, whether in the North-Eastern states of
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa or in any other parts of the country.
“Those who talk about the structure, what do they know about the
structure of the military? I don’t think any of us is competent to talk about
the structure of the military,” he said.
The minister, however, assured Nigerians that the new service
chiefs have hit the ground running and would ensure Nigeria overcome the
insurgency war in the North-East and in other parts of the country.
For over 10 years, the Boko Haram terror group had killed
hundreds of Nigerians in the North-East. The sect had also burnt down and
bombed scores of villages as well as churches. The Nigerian Army and the
Presidency had at several times claimed the group had been ‘technically
defeated’ and ‘weakened’ but the Abubakar Shekau’s bloodthirsty faction
continues to strike with daring effrontery and crude savagery.
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