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You Lied, No Army Collusion In Taraba Clashes, Army Chief Tells T. Y Danjuma

Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai

The Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai, has described as a total lie allegation by the former chief of Army Staff, retired General  Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, that the Nigerian Army colluded with bandits to kill people in Taraba State and that they refused to protect the people.

The Army Chief, who spoke to news men at a briefing today, Friday, based on the findings of a 10-member panel which the Army constituted to probe the allegations, stressed that there was no single truth in General T. Y Danjuma’s allegations.

General Buratai, who was represented by the Chief of Military/Civil Affairs, Nuhu Angbazo, said: “With respect to the statement by Lt.-Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, it is clear that the allegations were not true. There is a need to urge for caution on the part of the elder statesman in view of the security implication of such comments.”

He insisted that there was no collusion between the army and bandits in Taraba as alleged by Danjuma, blaming it on what he called “sustained media campaign” to belittle Nigerian army and other security agencies’ operation in the state.

He said that the panel found that Taraba governor made several attempts to remove the Commanding Officer of 9 Battalion, I.B. Gambari, a Lt. Col., for “his refusal to be dragged into the state politics.”

General Buratai also alleged that the chairman of Takum Local Government Area attempted to undermine the authority of the commanding officer even as he commended the officer and troops on operation in the state for their conduct.

According to the army chief, most of the crises over the years in Taraba were particularly in Takum, Wukari, Ussa, Donga and Sardauna Local Government Areas.

“There was absence of Nigerian army deployments in some crisis-prone areas in the hinterland in Taraba state” he said, even as he blamed it partly on the porous Nigeria-Cameroon borders and arms proliferation in the state.

“There was a massive proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Taraba, some of which have been recovered from warring parties, criminals and unauthorised persons.”

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The Army Chief blamed the unending clashes in the state on its “highly heterogeneous and division along ethno-religious lines.

“It is apparent that the clashes in Taraba are as a result of clan and communal crisis that predates this present government.

“Most of the crises in the state are politically-motivated and some persons are deliberately escalating the situation for selfish gains.

“The army is also of the view that the situation in Taraba has steadily deteriorated largely due to distrust, intolerance, lack of inclusion and accommodation of different ethnic groups in the state.”

According to him, this has made it difficult for the army to carry out its constitutional role in the state without being tainted.

He commended the panel for doing a thorough job.

The panel, which comprised serving and retired army personnel, representatives of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), was set up on April 10. It submitted its report on April 25.

Retired General T. Y Danjuma, had on March 24 at the convocation of Taraba State University in Jalingo, said that some troops on internal operation in Taraba colluded with killers and herdsmen who attacked communities in the state.

He said that the troops failed to protect the residents against the attacks and advised the people in the state to “rise to protect yourselves from these people; if you depend on the armed forces to protect you, you will all die. I ask all of you to be on the alert and defend your country, defend your state,” he admonished.

The former defence chief said that the unnecessary killings, which were akin to an act of ethnic cleansing being perpetuated against the people of Taraba, specifically and Nigeria at large, must stop even as he  accused the military of being part of the killings.

 Source: NAN.