DHQ denies burying soldiers in secret graves

The Defence Headquarters has dismissed the existence of secret military graveyards in Borno state.

Defence spokesman, Onyema Nwachukwu, stated this while reacting to a report by the Wall Street Journal accusing the Army of secretly burying soldiers battling Boko Haram.

The report stated that over 1,000 soldiers involved in the Boko Haram war were secretly buried without informing members of their families.

But, Nwachukwu described the publication as “sacrilegious” and “a figment of the imagination of the writer.”

“This insinuation can only emanate from an uninformed position of the author of the said publication. The Nigeria’s armed forces has a rich and solemn tradition for the interment of our fallen heroes,” he said.

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The defence spokesman noted that the military always gives befitting funerals to soldiers killed in the course of duty and does not indulge in secret burials.

“The cemetery described in the publication, which is situated in Maimalari military Cantonment is an officially designated military cemetery for the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the North East theatre, with a Cenotaph erected in honour of our fallen heroes.

“The official cemetery has played host to several national and international dignitaries, where wreaths were laid in honour of the fallen heroes. It is therefore a far cry from the sacrilegious impression being painted by Wall Street Journal," Nwachukwu said in a statement on Thursday, August 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, former vice president Atiku Abubakar has called for an investigation into claims that soldiers were buried secretly in Borno state.