Written by
Ishioma Appiah-Yeboah
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has pushed back against what it described as “mischievous and misleading” reports surrounding its comments on insecurity in Nigeria’s South-West, insisting that recent kidnappings and violent attacks in the region were carried out by fleeing terrorists not ordinary criminals.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday and signed by the Director Defence Media Operations , Major General Micheal Onoja , he said reports suggesting that it downplayed the activities of terrorists in the South-West were false and a deliberate distortion of its position.
The DHQ clarified that the recent kidnapping incident in Oyo State was allegedly perpetrated by members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) faction who had been displaced from their strongholds by sustained military offensives across other parts of the country.
According to the statement, the Armed Forces of Nigeria never referred to violent terrorists as mere criminals.
“It is inaccurate and misleading to suggest that the Defence Headquarters at any point referred to vicious and violent terrorists as criminals,” the statement read.
The statement also explained that its earlier comments were intended to provide intelligence-based clarification on the security situation in the South-West and to prevent panic among residents.
The DHQ equally denied claims that it sought to undermine the authority of elected leaders or diminish the seriousness of attacks carried out against innocent Nigerians.
“At no time did the Defence Headquarters undermine the authority of any democratically elected leader or seek to diminish the gravity of the heinous crimes committed against innocent citizens by terrorist elements,” Onoja stated.
The military further disclosed that troops have remained actively deployed across affected areas in collaboration with other security agencies and local stakeholders to track down criminal and terrorist groups operating in the region.
Reaffirming its commitment to national security, the Defence Headquarters vowed to sustain aggressive military operations aimed at dismantling terrorist networks threatening the peace, stability, and unity of the country.
The statement comes amid growing concerns over rising incidents of kidnapping and violent attacks in parts of the South-West, a development security experts say may signal an expansion of terrorist activities beyond their traditional strongholds in northern Nigeria.