EDO: Army warns citizens against spreading falsehoods on social media

THE Nigerian Army has warned members of the public against using social media to spread falsehoods and creating baseless panic in the society.

The warning came against allegation of extortion levelled against the NA personnel in Edo in a video that went viral last week.

It was alleged in the video that army personnel were collecting N1,000 from luxury buses along Agbor-Benin road.

The person speaking in the video claimed that the pandemonium ensued after the transporters refused to pay the illegal toll.

But reacting to the viral video today, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, described the allegation as a deliberate orchestration of falsehood and gross misrepresentation of facts produced and circulated to deliberately smear the army’s image.

He said the analysis of the video and several confirmatory enquiries of the video revealed that it was a  gross and deliberate and misrepresentation of facts.

According to him, while the Nigerian Army recognises the right of Nigerians to hold and share opinions especially on the social media, it should not be used to spread deliberate falsehood.

He said, “A situation where deliberate misrepresentation of facts and fabrication of outright falsehood are being orchestrated in the social media to tarnish the image and reputation of the military is not and should not be acceptable.”

Yerima said that the Nigerian army would remain a professional force that respects the fundamental human rights of the citizenry in line with global best practices.

He said that the army would neither condone a willful breach of law and order nor tolerate indiscipline on the part of its personnel.

The army spokesperson said that there was imposition of a state-wide curfew by the Edo government following the aftermath of the #EndSARs protest, adding that the order was yet to be reviewed.

He said it was to the curfew that motorists usually park a few meters away from the checkpoint mounted by soldiers and await the opening of the road by 05:00hrs daily.

He explained that  the issue of the road closure has been a long-time problem with nighttime commercial drivers who insisted that the road, being a federal road is not under the jurisdiction of the government of Edo.

“The isolated protest happened on Feb. 17 at about 2230hrs.

“This situation was brought under control professionally by troops who were conscious of the rules of engagement and code of conduct for internal security operations,” he said.