[Mhiz Rebecca]

The Nigerian Army has denied claims by a twitter user
that some soldiers of the 174 battalion Ikorodu, Lagos
state, beat a man identified as Mr George to death at the
Ogijo area of Ogun state(Read here ). A statement
released by the Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka
Usman, Director Army Public Relations, says the
allegation is a figment of the twitter user's imagination.
The ARmy has asked the twitter user to tender an
unreserved apology otherwise they would take legal
action against him. Read the statement after the cut..
The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to
media reports and photograph of the corpse of one Mr.
George of Ogijo, Ogun State, allegedly “murdered” by
troops of 174 Battalion Ikorodu. The story and the
photograph were ostensibly shared by one Mr. Kenny
Abel Adesanya through his twitter handle. However,
investigation have confirmed that the allegation is not
true, rather it was figment of Mr. Adesanya’s
imagination borne out of mischief, hatred for the
Nigerian Army and attempt to divert attention from those
that committed the dastardly act.
For the avoidance of doubt, the location where the
incident took place, Ogijo, is in Ogun State and 174
Battalion does not have any deployment there, neither
do any of our troops patrol the area.
To further buttress this fact, a team was despatched to
Ogijo Divisional Police Station, Ogun State, to investigate
the matter. It was confirmed that the incident dates
back to 8th March 2017, one Mr. George (now late), was
threatened by the son of his landlady that he will invite
his soldier friends to come and beat him for failing to
pay his rent which was long overdue. On the said day,
the tenant was taken from the compound by three
young men and beaten up. The case was reported to
Ogijo police station. The parties involved were arrested
and their statements taken.
Thereafter, the police wanted to charge the matter to
court for which the tenant and the landlady opted for
out of court settlement. The young men who carried out
the beating were neither arrested nor their identity
ascertained by the police. The police claimed the
landlady son said he used his friends. The case was
however treated as assault and discharged. No report
was sent to the military authorities because no soldier
was involved.
On 24th March 2017, the said tenant Mr. George died in
his house and his corpse was taken to the frontage of
the landlady who quickly reported to the Ogijo Police
Station. She was arrested and the corpse was deposited
at the mortuary. The son of the landlady who is
currently at large, is being hunted by the police
authority.
Consequently, we wish to call on Mr. Adesanya all other
persons that shared the story and the media to
understand that Mr. George was not murdered by any
soldier, let alone those serving in 174 Battalion and
should correct this erroneous impression. Additionally,
Mr Adesanya should render an unreserved apology to
174 Battalion in particular and the Nigerian Army, over
this false allegation, failure of which would attract legal
action against him.
We would like to seize this opportunity to advise that
the media and indeed people to always cross check their
facts before publication, posting on the web or
broadcast.
Thank you for your kind cooperation.
Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman
Director Army Public Relations