Atiku Calls For Investigation Of Alleged ‘Secret Burial’ Of Over 1000 Soldiers

LAGOS AUGUST 2ND (NEWSRANGERS)-Former Nigeria’s vice president Atiku Abubakar Thursday called for the investigation of the alleged secret burial of over 1,000 troops of the Nigerian Army.
“I cannot fathom that in the space of a year, 1000 of these great patriots were killed and buried secretly without their families being told. I hesitate to believe that deceit on such a grand scale is even possible,” Atiku said while reacting to a report by Wall Street Journal.
The report claimed that bodies of Nigerian “soldiers are covertly transported from a mortuary that at times gets so crowded the corpses are delivered by truck.”
It claimed that the Nigerian operates a secret graveyard, which along with an official cemetery, holds more 1, 000 bodies of Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko and ISWAP insurgents.
The report quoted Nigerian soldiers and relatives. They disclosed that the dead soldiers were buried in a secret graveyard at Maimalari.
Atiku described the alleged cover-up for the war on terror by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as a shock.
The former vice president said the claims in the report were heartbreaking to have happened in a democratic country like Nigeria.
He asked Nigeria’s Judicial Commission to constitute a panel to be headed by a non-partisan and reputable jurist to investigate the findings.
Atiku also called for the inclusion of former military officers in the panel of inquiry on the true state of the war on terror in Nigeria.
The former vice president noted that Nigeria’s armed forces is the country’s last defence against its enemies and should be treated with love, respect, dignity and appreciation for their invaluable service.
“But the alleged cover-up of the deaths of one thousand soldiers is a national emergency that should shock all statesmen and leaders of thoughts into action to save Nigeria,” Atiku said.
He urged the Nigerian government to ensure prudent use of finances to fund and equip the military and security forces.

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