Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has advised people living with suspected criminals to quit such behaviour or face the consequences, stating that the military will not accept responsibility for anyone harbouring criminals in their community.
He made the statement while speaking with reporters in Sokoto during his visit to the troops of ‘Operation FASAN YANMA’ at the army 8 Division headquarters on Thursday.
The defence chief in response to allegations of civilian deaths in the recent attack on Silame Local Government on Christmas Day by the air force, stated that the military will investigate such claims but will not accept responsibility for anyone harbouring criminals in their midst.
“I want to call on everyone not to harbour any suspected criminals in their midst, be it Lakurawa or bandits. They should expose them and leave their vicinity.
“The military is not going to take it lightly with any criminals disturbing the peace of the nation, we are dealing with them, and we are coming for the rest.
“We have individuals that still harbour them and once you do that you are making yourself a legitimate target.
Read Also: Reps minority caucus knocks FG over crackdown on critics, demands release of detainees
“We appeal, do not harbour yourself around them, do not live with them to avoid being a legitimate target. Please, do not hang yourself around them, and do not give them any support in whatever means because once you do that, you are making yourself a target
“The incident that happened yesterday was an operation we did, we follow up and we try as much as we can to avoid any mistakes.
“if there are other mistakes that came up in the operation, we will investigate. We did our homework, we have the video of everything that happened, and we are going to investigate,” he stated.
While urging the media not to give bandits or other criminal elements considerable attention, the defence chief added that Nigeria will not accept any foreign base on its soil, and urged neighbouring nations such as Niger, Chad, and Benin to work with the country in dealing with the enemy of peace.
