Army denies arrest of retired colonel

The Nigerian Army has denied a media report that a retired lieutenant colonel was on Thursday arrested by the Special Forces for leading a recent Boko Haram attack on security formations in Yobe State.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, said this in an electronic statement in Abuja on Monday.

The Army described the story as “falsehood concocted to malign the image of the Army.”

He stressed that no retired Lieutenant Colonel was arrested by the Special Forces in the encounter with Boko Haram insurgents in Yobe State.

He urged the members of the public to discountenance the story.

The statement read in part: “The Nigerian Army wishes to state categorically that the report was a figment of the imagination, concocted by some fifth columnists that are desperate to malign the image of the Nigerian Army.

“I wish to state that contrary to the report, no retired Lieutenant Colonel was ever arrested in any encounter with the Boko Haram insurgents anywhere.”

Punch