Army denies killing vigilante in Edo

The Nigerian Army has denied reports in the media alleging the killing of a vigilante in by its soldiers.
Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 4 Brigade Nigerian Army, Capt. Mohammed Maidawa, described the reports as “ malicious” which should be dismissed in its entity.
He said: “ The attention of the Headquarters 4 Brigade Nigerian Army has been drawn to a malicious story going round mainstream and Social Media alleging that soldiers killed a vigilante and released a suspected herdsmen.
“Ordinarily, one could have dismissed without responding, but for the ethnic undertone attached to the false story. We wish to state that the story is not correct as no suspected detained herdsman was set free as being reported in the media.
“Therefore it is important to put the record straight. In the early hours of 14 February, 2018. Our soldiers deployed at Ologbo for pipelines protection received a tip off from from locals of robbery incidence. Acting on the information , our troops swiftly moved to the area and sighted armed men.
“Our troops fired a warning shot and the armed men responded with a gunshots, the Soldiers returned fire towards same direction of fire. However, on reaching the scene, they discovered a dead body along-side cartridges and a cutlass. The body was taken to the nearest police station and was later identified as a vigilante member.
“It was however unclear, whether it were the vigilantes that were reported to be the armed robbers or they were called for the same purpose of checkmating the reported armed robbery activity.
“However, an investigation is ongoing to unravel the truth.”
While commiserating with the family of the deceased vigilante, he urged members of the public to disbelieve the erroneous reports in the media about the incident.
He also charged the media to be professional and “reflect the true account of what transpired instead of rushing to publish.”
Maidawa said the Nigerian Army, as a professional organisation that would continue to maintain neutrality in the conduct of internal security in aid to civil authorities.