Nigerian Army Refutes Alleged Forcefully Acquiring of Land In Orolu Community In Osun State

The Nigerian Army (NA) has described as false, malicious, and an effort by some vested interests to tarnish the reputation of the Chief of Army Staff and drag the name of the institution in the mud an allegation that NA has decided to forcefully acquire land for an alleged proposed project in Orolu Community of Orolu Local Govt of Osun State.

The NA in a statement signed by the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, stated: "The fact is that in line with the Civil-Military Relations agenda of the Nigerian Army, as part of the efforts to foster cooperation and support of the civil populace in its various operations  to mitigate security challenges in Nigeria, the NA usually executes community intervention projects, such as hospitals, boreholes,  electrification amongst others, at the behest of senior officers.

"In this particular case, a retired General conceptualized an intervention project; a medical center in Osun State which has not even been forwarded to the Chief of Army staff for approval, since the Department of the Civil- Military Relations at the Army Headquarters has not received requisite information to enable it articulate a comprehensive proposal for the project.

"The Army would not have in any way known which land belongs to who, since it is not yet involved in the process. It is only when and if the request of the retired senior officer is forwarded to the Chief of Army Staff and is approved, that the Army can send a team to carry out due diligence on the project site and carry along all stakeholders in the process.

"However, this project if approved, is a project meant to benefit the civil populace and it does not belong to any particular community. The Army is hereby absolved of any involvement  in an attempt to confiscate any community land as it has no dealing whosoever in the community".