Claims that the Nigerian Army and 65 local households got into a contentious land dispute in Osogbo, Osun State, have been denied by the military.
The land in question has long been the subject of litigation by the people of Osogbo, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Maj.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, Director, Army Public Relations.
Despite the claims made against him, he insisted that the lawsuit was filed before Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja was appointed chief of army staff on June 19, 2023.
According to him, this is made very plain by the fact that the protesters assert to have a High Court ruling that they acquired in January 2023, while Lagbaja was still the GOC of the 1st Division of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna.
He claims that there was an obvious effort to defame the COAS and his office in an effort to make them look like the bad guys in the land dispute, which would have served no constructive mediation purpose.
According to Nwachukwu, it was an effort to bring disgrace onto a detribalized, altruistic, and patriotic chief of army staff.
“The Nigerian army, as an institution dedicated to protecting the rule of law and the rights of its citizens, will steadfastly uphold the law and relentlessly seek to fulfill its legal commitments.
In the matter of Chief Amodu Akanbi Suleiman Folorunsho & Others V. Attorney General of the Federation & Others, he stated that the Nigerian Army had taken note of the decision of the High Court of Justice of Osun State.
Nwachukwu pleaded with the people to ignore the “misinformation” that is circulating so that they would not be deceived and victimized by those with malicious intentions.