Nigerian Army Investigates Murder of Vigilante Member in Edo

The attention of the Headquarters  4 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to a malicious  story going round mainstream and Social Media alleging that  soldiers killed a vigilante and released a suspected herdsmen.

Ordinarily,  one could have dismissed  without responding,  but for the ethnic undertone attached to the false story.  We wish to state that the story is not correct as no suspected detained herdsman was set  free as being reported in the media.

Therefore it is important  to put the record  straight.

In the early hours of 14 February,  2018. Our soldiers deployed at Ologbo  for pipelines  protection received a tip off from from locals of robbery incidence. Acting on the information , our troops swiftly moved to the area and sighted armed men.  Our troops fired a warning shot and the armed men responded with a gunshots, the Soldiers returned fire towards same direction of fire.

However, on reaching the scene, they discovered  a dead body along side cartridges and a cutlass.

The body was taken to the nearest police station  and was later identified as a vigilante member.  It was however unclear, whether it were the vigilantes that were reported to be the armed robbers or they were called for the same purpose of checkmating the reported armed robbery activity.

However, an investigation is ongoing to unravel the truth.

While we commiserate with the family of the deceased,  we call on well meaning Nigerians not to believe the erroneous story that the vigilante was deliberately killed or an imaginary herdsman released.

We also call on media and all well meaning Nigerians  to always reflect the true account of what transpired  instead of rushing to post.

The Nigerian Army is a professional organization that will continue  to maintain  its neutrality in the conduct of internal security in aid to civil authorities.

Mohammed Maidawa

Captain

Assistant Director

Army Public Relations