The Nigerian Army on Wednesday disputed a claim that its soldiers beat a 27-year-old Taraba man, Yusuf Haruna, to death, as reported by Daily Sun online Monday, April 2. The allegations were leveled against soldiers deployed in the ongoing Exercise AYEM AKPATUMA by the father of the deceased.
In a press statement released and posted in a Twitter thread, Army Spokesman Brig. Gen. Texas Chukwu denied the claims and explained in detail what happened to Haruna, saying the “allegation is misleading and untrue” and that the Army wishes to set the record straight.
The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to newspaper reports particularly an online medium, https://t.co/SnGf3wAGgq of 2 April 2018 where it was alleged that soldiers deployed on Exercise AYEM AKPATUMA beat 27 years old man, Yusuf Haruna to death at Mbanga in #Sardauna https://t.co/Uix0WppDXa
— Brig Gen Texas Chukwu (@TexasChukwu) April 4, 2018
This allegation is misleading and untrue. The Nigerian Army wishes to put the record straight to avoid misinforming the general public.
— Brig Gen Texas Chukwu (@TexasChukwu) April 4, 2018
Contrary to this allegation, the deceased was a notorious youth who lived in Mbara quarters of Mbanga Community. He was known to be engaging in all forms of criminal activities.
— Brig Gen Texas Chukwu (@TexasChukwu) April 4, 2018
He was apprehended by troops deployed on Exercise AYEM AKPATUMA and while making efforts to hand him over to the police for questioning, he however escaped from custody. The soldiers were later informed that he died at the Family Health Care Hospital Mbanga.
— Brig Gen Texas Chukwu (@TexasChukwu) April 4, 2018
The deceased was not beaten nor tortured as reported by some section of the media. The deceased was said to be an epileptic patient according to a source from the Family Health Care Hospital Management.
— Brig Gen Texas Chukwu (@TexasChukwu) April 4, 2018
The Nigerian Army wishes to caution the media to always cross checked their fact before rushing to the press and be objective in their reportage of security related issues.
— Brig Gen Texas Chukwu (@TexasChukwu) April 4, 2018
Daily Sun had reported a claim by the family of the deceased alleging that soldiers of the Nigerian Army had beaten Haruna to death.
At the time of the report, the claim could not be verified by the Army, who gave a promise that it would look into it and offer a response. However, Brig. Gen. Texas Chukwu did not return subsequent calls to his line before Daily Sun published the allegations as stated in the body of our report.