The Nigerian Army has said it does not have any repentant terrorists joining its ranks and does not have any plan to engage them .
Army spokesman Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu made this clarification in a statement on Tuesday after a man simply called Young Elder in a viral video drew a conclusion from the collapse of the Afghan military and relate it to the ongoing surrender by the Boko Haram/ Islamic State West Africa Province Terrorists in Nigeria.
General Nwachukwu said that while it is understood that the situation in Afghanistan calls for concerns by any right thinking person or organisation, the manner in which the comic Young Elder presented it shows his lack of basic knowledge on the subject he hurriedly delved into.
According to him, there are teaming able-bodied Nigerians that are willing to join the Nigerian Army and genuinely help in the fight against terrorism and other violent crimes.
The Nigerian Army therefore is not desperate for prospective recruits to stoop so low and engage the services of former terrorists, he said, adding that “as a general rule, it is not even recommended to absorb former fighters into the services of a regular military.”
” The Nigerian Army wish to state that the campaign of falsehood embarked upon by some individuals who do not wish the nation well cannot distract its personnel from their resolve to bring an end to the violent crimes in the country.”
“We wish to reiterate that the NA under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya will continue to operate within the dictates of the law.
“Surrendered terrorists will be received, processed and passed to the appropriate Government agencies that are saddled with the responsibility of handling them.
“While we recommend that matters related to security be left with those who have the requisite expertise and experience, we wish to remind comic characters like Young Elder to focus on contributing towards nation building and not engaging in campaign of falsehood, Nwachukwu added