The Defence Headquarters on Thursday pushed back against news reports that the military had been secretly dumping the remains of fallen heroes of Boko Haram war in unmarked mass graves.
Onyema Nwachukwu, the military spokesperson, said The Wall Street Journal was ignorant of military burial procedure when it reported on Thursday morning that fallen Nigerian soldiers of Boko Haram insurgency were being transported to an unmarked gravesite near Maiduguri for a secret and undignified burial.
The American newspaper quoted families of fallen servicemen as saying that the military was untidy in its handling of the tragic deaths of their loved ones.
It also reported that the military sometimes failed to open up on the fate of fallen soldiers to their families.
The report drew a collective outrage from Nigerians, with opposition politicians like Atiku Abubakar expressing serious concerns and demanding urgent investigation into the allegations.
“Therefore, it must be unambiguously clarified that the Armed Forces of Nigeria does not indulge in secret burials, as it is sacrilegious and a profanity to extant ethos and traditions of the Nigerian military.
“In tandem with the traditions of the Armed Forces, fallen heroes are duly honoured and paid the last respect in befitting military funeral of international standard.
“It features funeral parade, grave site oration, solemn prayers for the repose of departed souls by Islamic and Christian clerics, as well as gun salutes, aside other military funeral rites,” Nwachukwu said.
The military spokesperson explained that the cemetery described in the publication, near Maimalari Cantonment, was an officially designated military cemetery with a cenotaph erected in
“It is therefore a far cry from the sacrilegious impression being painted by the ‘Wall Street Journal’”.
“The Defence Headquarters therefore urges members of the Armed Forces and the public to disregard such a misinformed publication.”
He urged them “to see it as a figment of the imagination of the writer, whose knowledge of military valued ethos and traditions is grossly misplaced.”