Kayode Shopekan
Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has condemned the public release of the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution For Victims Of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters.
Irabor said the report should have been handed over to the convening authority
Addressing journalists after a courtesy visit to Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, the Defence Chief said “I am sure those of you in the media must have seen a report that was released through, in my view, a wrong channel, that is making the rounds in the social media,” the CDS said.
“Whether it is a true report, I can’t tell. But I’d like to indicate that the normal procedure is to have such a report submitted to the convening authority. And then there will be a white paper that will be presented, based on which one can make informed comments.”
General Irabor also stated that the Nigerian armed forces are committed to their constitutional mandate and would not engage in ignoble acts as alleged in the report.
“I’d like to indicate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is a professional armed force. We are peopled by Nigerians and we remain committed to the constitutional mandate. So we will not at this point think that Nigerians should make disparaging remarks regarding the Armed Forces of Nigeria, in the sense that we are professional armed forces. If there are issues, of course, we address them within the ambit of the provisions.
“It would not be right to disparage men and women who have worked so hard to ensure that the territorial integrity of this nation is kept intact. So in the meantime, until I see the full extent of the report.
“I can assure that the Armed Forces of Nigeria are well-disciplined and we do not engage in any ignoble acts. If Nigerians do not trust us, then we won’t be doing what we are doing, and in any case, it is the Armed Forces of Nigeria; we are not talking of the police. So when the Armed Forces are called out, it is because there is a need; there is no one who doesn’t desire to live in peace.
“We need to understand that the Armed Forces are there to keep the peace, to provide the ambiance that will enable each Nigerian to live his or her desires in peace and harmony. So let us not make inciting comments that will put the entire space on fire. That’s not right,” General Irabor said.
Meanwhile, the panel has described the incidence of October 20, 2020, as a massacre, where 48 casualties were recorded: 11 dead bodies were recovered and 37 persons sustained varying degree of injuries, including missing persons.
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