Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor has decried the #ENDSARS Judicial panel’s report making rounds on social media.
The #ENDSARS report of the Lagos State Judicial panel had indicted officers of the Nigerian Army of shooting and killing protesters, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
The CDS, who spoke to newsmen on Tuesday evening, after a courtesy visit to Governor Godwin Obaseki in Benin City, the Edo State Capital said that only the white paper would confirm that lives were lost at the Lekki tollgate incident.
According to him, “I am sure those of you in the media must have seen that there is a report that was released though in my view a wrong channel that is making the rounds in the social media.
“Whether it is a true report, I can’t tell but I would 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 based on which one can make informed comments.
“But whatever you see currently, I will like to indicate that the armed forces of Nigeria is a professional armed forces, we are peopled by Nigerians and we remain committed to constitutional mandates so we do 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 and if there are issues, of course, we address them within the ambits of the provision.
“It will 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 report I may not be able to… but I can assure you that the armed forces of Nigeria are well disciplined and we do not engage in any ignoble acts.
“If Nigerians don’t trust us then we wouldn’t have been doing what we are doing and in any case, it is the armed forces of Nigeria and remembers, we are not talking about the police, we are talking about the armed forces with emphasis armed forces so when the armed forces are called out, it is because there is a need for the armed forces; there is no one who does not require and desire to live in peace and so we need to understand that the armed forces are there to keep the peace, to provide the ambience that will enable each and every Nigerian to live up to his desires in peace and harmony so let us not make inciting comments that will put the entire space on fire, that is not right.”
