Mr. Olukolade said troops at the Division Headquarters in
Maiduguri received a reinforcement call and not a forewarning.
The Nigerian military on Friday said a report by Amnesty
International, AI, on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls was false.
The global human rights organisation had
released a report on Friday indicting the Nigerian military for the kidnap of
over 250 girls from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on
April 14.
AI said the military had at least 4-hour prior warning of
the Chibok attack, but did not do enough to stop it.
According to AI’s report, sources said that local patrols
(known as “vigilantes”, set up by the military and local authorities) in
Gagilam, a neighbouring village, were among the first to raise the alarm on the
evening of 14 April.
The locals, the report said, raised the
alarm after a large group of unidentified armed men entered their village on
motorbikes and said they were headed to Chibok.
This set off a rapid chain of phone calls
to alert officials, including the Borno State Governor and senior military
commanders based in Maiduguri., AI said. The global body said Nigerian military
sources confirmed being warned of the attack.
But the Director of Defence Information,
Chris Olukolade, in a statement said AI’s allegation is very “unfortunate and
untrue”.
Mr. Olukolade noted that while the Nigerian
military appreciates global concern with Nigeria, falsehood must be avoided.
Stating that AI’s report was unfounded, Mr.
Olukolade said that troops in Maiduguri did not receive four hours warning
before the attack.
He said that the Nigerian military had
rather received information of an ongoing attack on Chibok community from
troops on patrol.
He said the troops on noting the attack
engaged the terrorists and called for more reinforcement to contain them.
He said that as the troops on reinforcement
traversed over 120km rugged and tortuous road from Maiduguri to Chibok, they
ran into an ambush by terrorists who engaged them in fierce firefight and a
number of soldiers lost their lives.
He said another set of soldiers mobilized
for the mission arrived after the terrorists had escaped due to a series of
misleading information that slowed down the pursuit.
Mr. Olukolade said troops at the Division Headquarters in
Maiduguri received a reinforcement call and not a forewarning.
He also said that considering the vastness
of the mission area, deployment has been more of patrols than static.
Mr. Olukolade said the allegations are a
continuation of the campaign intended to cause disaffection, portray the
military in bad light and undermine the counter-terrorism efforts.
He said the Defence Headquarters is appealing to individuals
and organisations to refrain from circulating allegations that could undermine
both the operation and investigation of missions to rescue the girls.
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