Kenechukwu Ofomah
Awka
The Nigeria Army on Friday denied reports making the rounds that Lieutenant PP Johnson, a female officer who was abducted on Monday 26th December 2022, has been rescued.
The lieutenant was abducted in Enugu, while visiting her grandmother in Aku-Okigwe in Imo state, shortly after completion of her Cadet training and subsequent commissioning as a Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army.
A video footage of her abduction had emerged in the social media where the military operative was stripped naked and tortured.
The abductors had also in the video claimed her abduction was in line with their fight for Biafra against the Nigerian State.
However, on Thursday, reports emerged on some news platforms backed with a video, saying the abducted lieutenant has been rescued.
But in a reaction yesterday, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, had said in a release, that the female Lieutenant had not been rescued as earlier claimed.
He regretted that despite being from the region, the abducted still subjected the military operative to the inhumane treatment.
According to him, the development further supports their earlier claim that the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has subjected people of the Southeast to so much sufferings.
“The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has been drawn to some publications circulating in the social media insinuating the rescue of Lieutenant PP Johnson, a female officer who was abducted on Monday 26 December 2022 while visiting her grandmother in Aku-Okigwe in Imo state, shortly after completion of her Cadet training and subsequent commissioning as a Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army.
“It is instructive that the officer’s circumstance as a woman and a Nigerian citizen of South Eastern extraction did not dissuade her abductors from dehumanizing her in their mindless attempt to commit atrocities under the guise of fighting for Biafra.
“This evidently is another pointer to the myriads of crimes being unleashed by IPOB/ ESN on Ndigbo, the very people they claim to be fighting for their emancipation.
“It should therefore be crystal clear to those who are still in doubt of the true status of these groups, that IPOB/ESN are terrorists, masquerading as freedom fighters and do not deserve the support of anyone particularly the good people of South East Nigeria,” the Army spokesperson said.
Onyema made it clear that the information making the rounds is unsubstantiated as the officer is yet to be released or rescued from her abductors.
The statement said; “Likewise, the video footage being circulated and associated with the rescue claim is an old video of the arrest of a suspect earlier effected by troops.
“Much as we appreciate the concern and goodwill of the general public for her safe rescue, we also wish to note that the information on the rescue of the officer did not emanate from the Nigeria Army.
“The Nigerian Army will leave no stone unturned in its effort to rescue the officer and bring the perpetrators to book.
“We appeal to the general public to provide credible and reliable information that could lead to her safe rescue and arrest of the perpetrators.“
