SAN FRANCISCO, January 23, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Army on Monday clarified that the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, instituted a legal action against Premium Times, for libel after the online newspaper failed to retract a story published on its medium.
The Army, in a statement issued by its Director of Public Relations, Brigadier-General Sani Usman, pointed out that the suit “is between the person of Lieutenant General TY Buratai and the Premium Times and not the Nigerian Army”.
Stressing that the case has nothing to do with the purported “disclosure of military information by the medium”, the Army disclosed that it is preparing a separate case bordering on “jeopardising military operations, fraudulent obtaining and disclosure of military information that led to deaths and loss of equipment” against Premium Times.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to erroneous impressions and insinuations on a libel case against the Premium Times to whip up sentiments.
“Therefore, we wish to clarify that the issue at hand is purely allegation of libel in which Premium Times falsely and unjustifiably accused the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, of false declaration of assets, owning mansions and estates in Dubai and further stated that he was being investigated by Code of Conduct Bureau for false declaration of assets in their publication of 12th December 2015.
“Consequently, concerted efforts were made to make Premium Times retract the story and apologise, to no avail.
“As a law-abiding citizen, he took appropriate legal steps of seeking redress through the courts.
“Therefore, this case is between the person of Lieutenant General TY Buratai and the Premium Times and not the Nigerian Army; the issue at hand is libel and not about disclosure of military information by the medium.
“The case between the Nigerian Army and the Premium Times of jeopardising military operations, fraudulent obtaining and disclosure of military information that led to deaths and loss of equipment, is still in the offing.”
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