The Nigerian Army has dismissed the claims by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike against the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division and Land Component Commander of Operation Delta Safe, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham, as false allegations.

Wike had accused Sarham of operating an illegal oil bunkering squad to finance his ambition to become Chief of Army Staff. The Army Division, in a statement by its Spokesperson, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, described the actions of Wike as a deliberate campaign of calumny against the commander and a reckless, spurious and mischievous accusation.

It challenged Wike to provide the public with any evidence of such meetings with Sarham in attendance. It also requested the governor to take the most civilised way of putting up a petition to the relevant authorities to make a point as regards the accusation of oil bunkering

“The attention of the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a yet another round of bizarre and spurious allegations against the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division and Land Component Commander of Operation DELTA SAFE, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham, by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, in a video-clip released to some sections of the press and social media outlets.

“The clip was purportedly released on May 15, 2019 by one Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media in which the governor made unfounded false allegations against the GOC 6 Division. “Although Nigerian Army does not wish to join issues with the governor, yet, it is important to strongly state that the allegations are false and figment of the Wike’s imagination,” the statement said, among others.

•Text (excluding headline) courtesy of The Guardian.

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