We didn’t raid Kanu’s home —Military

THE military, on Friday, declared that it is not its responsibility to declare the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, wanted.

This is just as the military announced that the IPOB leader was not in its custody.

It also disclosed that nobody raided his home in Isiama Afara, Umuahia, Abia State.

The Director of Defence Information, Major General John Enenche, who briefed newsmen, said declaring Kanu wanted would depend on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He refused to explain what he meant by this.

He reiterated that the military never raided Kanu’s home.

“Nobody raided Kanu’s home and I stand to be justified not from the information I got, I was watching it live. I was monitoring it live, speaking with them on the ground. The people that came out there that I saw were the Biafra security service and Biafra National Guard. I think I later confirmed that there was nothing to actually justify them legally to mount roadblocks. I saw the militancy; nobody told me, and I saw the action there but we are still investigating.”

The Defence spokesman insisted that the military did not proscribe IPOB but whoever did so followed due process.

Enenche, who noted that the job of the military was to diagnose security issues, said, “We did our media operations very well otherwise that weekend would have been the longest weekend in this country and we are also very careful choosing our words and we know the law very well.”

The military officer urged people not to panic about Operation Python Dance.

He said, “The military have been doing it, will continue to do it. Let them reflect on the advantages as it were in the past and such against this particular operation. I was in that area. I served there 12 years ago and we have been carrying out several exercises in the same way with different code names. Nothing like this came up. So, when you reflect on such things in the past, then it will encourage them.

“There are activities we carried out that are called winning the hearts and minds, which the army is doing; medical outreaches, reaching out to those that actually need them, reassuring them against negative propaganda.

“For the past couple of days since the operation started, the feedback I have been getting from that place is that they are happy. Some of them were actually afraid before the operation started, not from our troops but from the people that are actually getting them fighting, people that are actually intimidating them. But now, they have a lot of relief. We have our sources of information; information outfits of the armed forces. We also get information from the general public using our own sources as a form of checks and balances.”

Enenche stressed that the armed forces are dedicated to the protection of lives and property of all “peace-loving” people, wherever they live in the country, adding that the armed forces are committed to routine training and regular exercising of troops to keep fit to tackle security challenges in the country.

He said the “Defence Headquarters reassures the general public of conducting its duties and tasks in line with best international military practices,” adding, “The general public is requested to furnish the security agencies with information on suspicious activities of individuals, groups or organisations that are contrary to national security.”

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