COUP ALLEGATION:CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING GOCs

The Chief of Army Staff, (COAS), Lt-General Tukur Buratai yesterday held an emergency security meeting with General Officers Commanding (GOCs) Divisions and other top operational commanders at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.

Buratai, while describing the meeting as impromptu, said it was necessary because of prevailing security challenges in the country, shortly before going into a closed-door session with principal staff officers of the Army HQ and other top commanders.

Addressing Journalists after the meeting, the GOC 1 Division, Major-General Adeniyi Oyebade reiterated the army’s resolve to find out the origins of claims about a coup plot to overthrow the current civilian administration. 

He said: “This isn’t something that we’ll take lying low.

 We will deploy all resources, assets, efforts, to find out where this very dastardly speculation emanated from.”

“Most importantly we want to assure our people that the Nigerian Army remains steadfast, and loyalty is unquestionable to Mr. President Commander-in-Chief and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he added.

General Oyebade said: “We want to assure all citizens, that the Nigerian army remains apolitical, our loyalty and allegiance to the constitutional authority of this land, the three branches of government, Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief, is unquestionable.”

He explained that: “As far as we are concerned, we have decided long before now, since the beginning of the Fourth Republic to abide by our code of conduct and to remain subordinate to civil authorities, and that has not changed, and it will not change.”

He added that: “We want to assure our people, that they should be rest assured that issue of coup will not happen within the ranks of the army and within the ranks of members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.”

Oyebade also said the commanders briefed the COAS on the current challenges and successes in the counter-terrorism operations in the North-East, noting that despite the challenges, the operations will soon come to an end. He further said they discussed the recent re-organization of military operations in the South-South region of the country to tackle militancy.