The Nigerian Army has denied viral report that a female officer who was abducted on Boxing Day by men suspected to be militants of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and its paramilitary arm, the Eastern Security Networ, ESN, has been freed.
In a statement on its verified Facebook Page, the Army dismissed the report that Lieutenant P. P. Johnson, a female officer who was abducted on December 26, 2022, while visiting her grandmother in Aku-Okigwe in Imo state, has been rescued.
Lt. Johnson had travelled to Imo State shortly after completing her Cadet training and subsequent commissioning as a Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army.
Her abduction, according to a viral video, was in furtherance of the separatist agitation against the Nigerian state for an independent state of Biafra.
bUt in a press release, the Army said, Friday, that “the information making the rounds is unsubstantiated as the officer is yet to be released or rescued from her abductors. 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.”
Below is the full text of the press release by the Army:
ABDUCTED FEMALE OFFICER NOT YET RESCUED, SEARCH EFFORT STILL ONGOING
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. A video footage of her abduction had emerged in the social media where her abductors claimed her abduction was in line with their fight for Biafra against the Nigerian State. 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 NA wishes to state that the information making the rounds is unsubstantiated as the officer is yet to be released or rescued from her abductors. 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 NA.
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.
ONYEMA NWACHUKWU
Brigadier General
Director Army Public Relations
30 December 2022