Army commends runaway soldier trending on social media, reveals what he hides

The Nigerian Army has warned Nigerians to worry about a deserter Temple Ahunanya raising funds by revealing how the army authorities sentenced him to death for demanding good weapons to fight insurgents.

In a statement on Wednesday by Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu , Director Army Public Relations, the Nigerian Army said it was crucial to set the record straight.

Wachukwu started by commending Ahunanya for making an attempt to serve this great nation.

“He is also commended for passing through the rigours of military training and the fog of war.

“It is, however, unfortunate that despite these, he lacked the requisite qualities to progress with the profession, as he was a bad egg and a cancerous element that negatively infiltrated the ranks, corrupting the good conduct and morale of troops in the process,” he said.

According to him, Ahunanya was enlisted in the Nigerian Army on the 20th of August 2012, and passed out from training on the 17th of December of same year.

“He was arrested in 2014, tried and dismissed for conduct prejudicial to military discipline and cowardice.

The Army truly convicted him, but he escaped while awaiting Army Council’s approval of his verdict.

“This singular act portrays a tendency for evasion of justice and criminality.

“Hence the general public must beware not to be misguided by his misconstrued narratives as a failure on the part of the military or the government, but a ploy to create and peddle falsehood in the media space to gain undeserved sympathy,” the statement read.

“While in service, Ahunanya was rude, undisciplined, criminally minded and an uncultured individual, who failed to imbibe the basic ethics and regimentation of the military profession.”

According to him, the dismissed officer’s unpatriotic and cowardly tendencies manifested when he was deployed for a mission to counter Boko Haram terrorists’ attack and save lives.

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“However, against extant military laws, the dismissed soldier disobeyed and led other cowardly soldiers to disobey duly constituted authority.

“Ahunanya still displayed his criminal tendency in his video, as he disparaged the Nigerian Army to spike sympathy and whip up sentiment to lure unsuspecting members of the public to raise funds for his criminal activities by posting his bank account details alongside his video.

“This is evidently an attempt to financially hoodwink members of the public.

“The Nigerian Army is an organized Army that conforms to the dictates of International Laws of Armed Conflict and institutionalized Order of Battle.

“Our troops are not terrorists or insurgents who could use all manner of unlawful and unconventional arms.

“The Nigerian Army operates, following universally accepted doctrines and Order of Battle. Our troops are better trained, equipped and professional in the conduct of campaigns and operations.

“Therefore, it is surprising that Ahunaya compared a group of misguided elements operating under the influence of drugs and twisted ideologies to Nigerian Army troops’”