Nigeria’s Military High Command has distanced itself from media reports that it has resorted to using mercenaries in the ongoing war against Boko Haram insurgents in the country’s North East.

“The insinuation and the entire story are utterly scurrilous and a calculated attempt to smear the good image of the Nigerian military. The orchestrated campaign is aimed at rubbishing the efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies who are working hard to contain the insurgencies in the North East,” Acting Director Defence Information, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said in a statement issued this afternoon in Abuja.

He added with regard to the reports ourced from Turkey’s Anadolu Agency: “To this end the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) wishes to state that the military has enough trained soldiers to fight the terrorists in the North East without resorting to the use of mercenaries. Also, the military has significantly up-scaled its troops and equipment deployment since the Presidential mandate and does not need mercenaries whether foreign or local to rout out and put an effective end to guerrilla movements in the North East within the allotted time.

Since the Presidential order the military has been fighting the insurgents more and more effectively and all Nigerians, irrespective of where they live, have come to understand that we are making progress.

“The DHQ therefore wishes to state that the report is a covert campaign of blackmail by disgruntled elements in society designed to pit the Nigerian people against their armed forces. These blackmailers are not only unhappy because of the progress the military is making in the fight but more so because their illicit gains in the war has been effectively stopped.

“The Nigerian Armed Forces are doing all that are needed to be done to ensure that the terrorists in the North East and all forms of criminalities are brought under effective control within the shortest possible time.

“The military authority hereby wishes to appeal to the general public to discontinuance of this unfounded rumours and give the armed forces their support and encouragement in the ongoing war against terror and not giving in to cheap blackmail and propaganda.”

•Defence Spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar.

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