Chibok Girls: Army Denies Receiving Any Warning Before Attack

Following a report by the Amnesty International, AI, that the Nigerian Army was pre-informed of the abduction of some students writing their exams at Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has reacted to the allegation, describing it as untrue.

In a statement released on Friday by Director Defence Information/Coordinator, Maj-Gen Chris Olukolade, the army urged the international communities not to introduce falsehood in assessing the situation.

The military noted that the troops only received information of an attack in Chibok, Borno State, which they promptly responded to.

“Contrary to the claims (by AI), troops in Maiduguri did not receive four hours forewarning about the attacks. Rather, they received information of an ongoing attack on Chibok community from troops on patrol, who on noting the attack, engaged the terrorists and called for more reinforcement to contain them.”

The army further explained that, “as the troops on reinforcement traversed the over 120km rugged and tortuous road from Maiduguri to Chibok, they ran into an ambush by terrorists, who engaged them in fierce firefight and a number of soldiers lost their lives.

“Another set of soldiers also mobilised for the mission arrived after the terrorists had escaped, due to a series of misleading information that slowed down the pursuit.”

Olukolade lamented that, “these spurious allegations are obviously a continuation of the campaign intended to cause disaffection, portray the military in bad light and undermine the counter-terrorism efforts.”