Olaleye Aluko, Abuja
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Wednesday set up an eight-man panel to investigate allegations of extra-judicial killings in the North-East and the alleged killing of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
Buratai, who said the allegations had raised concerns for the Army authorities, stated that the panel would establish the true situation of the allegations.
The panel is headed by Maj. Gen. Ahmed Jibrin (retd).
Other members of the panel are Brig. Gen. Dadan Garba (retd), Brig. Gen. Abdulqadir Guide (retd), Brig. Gen. O. Olayinka, Colonel L.B. Mohammed, Colonel U.M. Wambai, Mr. Olawole Fapohunda, and Lt. Col. C.M. Akaliro, who is the panel’s secretary.
Buratai said, “Despite our success in the war against insurgency in the North-East, we are aware that there are some persons and organisations who expressed concerns over alleged cases of misconduct and abuses by some of our personnel, especially in the early days of the counter terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.
“These allegations are not good for civil-military relations. They are capable of demoralising the troops in the performance of their constitutional roles. It was thus expedient to impartially investigate the allegations in order to find out the facts of the matter and enable relevant authorities to take appropriate actions.”
According to the army chief, the allegations against the soldiers to be investigated by the panel range from extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests to detention, torture and enforced disappearance of suspected Boko Haram terrorists.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com
from Punch Newspapers http://ift.tt/2nfXaH1
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment