Against the backdrop of heavy indictment, the Nigerian army has denied complicity in kidnap of the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Kanu-Uche, by alleged Fulani herdsmen a few days ago.

 The Prelate had addressed a press conference shortly after his release by the herdsmen upon paying a ransom of N100 million in which it indicted military personnel for aiding the kidnappers who abducted him and other clergymen with him.

In the Prelate’s words, “military personnel are aiding the kidnappers who disguise as herders in the daytime but are kidnappers at night.” He pointed out that the Nigerian Army base in Lomara was working in conjunction with the Fulani kidnappers who masquerade as herdsmen and that abducted him in Umunneochi, Abia State on that fateful day.

However, responding to the weighty allegation, the Nigerian Army spokesperson, Brig-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu said that the army would approach the Prelate and ‘unravel the basis for the allegation.’

The army statement read as follows:

“The insinuation that troops are complicit in the kidnap is not entirely premised on any findings of investigations and therefore cannot be swallowed hook line and sinker. This allegation therefore raises some pertinent questions which are still unanswered.

“Given the spate of insecurity in the region, the question would be, was the issue reported to the unit covering the area? Did the Methodist Church take the NA into confidence while negotiating the ransom with the kidnappers? No formal complaint has been received by the unit.

“More worrisome is the fact that it was alleged that the ransom was paid in less than 24 hours. Was the ransom paid to troops? These are questions that beg for answers.

“Moreso, the NA unit, has not received any debrief from the Prelate or the Methodist Church.

“Given our professional disposition and zero tolerance for any misconduct in the Nigerian Army, we will take this weighty allegation seriously and approach the Prelate and the Methodist church to unravel the basis for the allegation.”