Army to sue Premium Times for ‘jeopardizing operations’

The Nigerian Army said it will sue Premium Times, an online newspaper for allegedly jeopardizing military operations.

A statement yesterday by Army spokesman Brigadier General Sani Usman said: “The case between the Nigerian Army and Premium Times of jeopardizing military operations, fraudulent obtaining and disclosure of military information that led to deaths and loss of equipment, is still in the offing.”

Usman also said 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.

He clarified 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 Buratai.

He said Premium Times accused 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.

He added that: “Consequently, concerted efforts were made to make Premium Times retract the story and apologize, to no avail. As a law-abiding citizen, he took appropriate legal steps of seeking redress through the courts.”

Usman noted that this case is between the person of 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.