The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen.Lucky Irabor, has warned Nigerians against making disparaging comments about the military following the findings in the recently released report of the Lagos state inquiry on October 20, 2020 Lekki shooting incident.
In the report released on Monday, November 15, the Nigerian Army was accused of killing or injuring some of the unarmed protesters at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.
Reacting to the report, Irabor who spoke to newsmen today November 16, said;
”You must have seen a report that was released through, in my view a wrong channel, that is making the rounds on social media. Whether it is a true report, I can’t tell but I like to indicate that the normal procedue is to have such a report submitted to the convering authority and then there will be a white paper that will be presented, based on which one can make informed comments.
I will like to indicate that the armed forces of Nigeria is a professional armed forces. We were pupiled by Nigerians and we are committed to constitutional mandates. We do not at this point think that Nigerians should make disparaging remarks regarging the armed forces of Nigeria, in the sense that we are a professional armed forces.
If there were issues, of course we will address them within the ambit of the provisions. It will not be wise to disparage men and women who have worked so hard to ensure that the territorial integrity of this nation is kept intact. ”
Spekaing further, Irabor said
”If Nigerians don’t trust us then we wouldn’t be doing what we are doing. It is the armed forces of Nigerians. We are not talking about the police. When the armed forces are called out, it is because there is a need for the armed forces.There is no one that does not require to live in peace and so we need to understand that the armed forces are there to keep the peace”
