It’s shameful to cover-up killing of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram - Fani-Kayode tells FG

Olufemi Fani-Kayode has taken a swipe at President Buhari, the Minister of Defence, Rtd Brig. Gen. Mansur Mohammed Dan Ali and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai over the alleged ''secret burial'' of soldiers killed by Boko Haram insurgents.

''The most reprehensible thing that our government can do is to cover-up the fact that 105 of our soldiers were killed by Boko Haram in battle. It is evil,'' the Former Minister of Aviation said Wednesday on Twitter. ''A soldier ought to be honored in death and this is especially so if he dies in the course of doing his duty and fighting for his nation. The government has not only dishonored them by not acknowledging their sacrifice but they have also buried them in the wilderness like rabid dogs. This is wickedness of the highest order and Pres. Buhari, his Chief of Army Staff and his Min. of Defence should bury their heads in shame. I am outraged by the fact that a soldier will sacrifice his life for his country yet the citizens of that country don’t even appreciate it.''

Premium Times reported that 105 soldiers attached to the 157 Battalion were killed after they came under a penetrating attack from Boko Haram in Gudunbali.

However, the Director of Army Public Relations at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja, Col.Sani Usman, described the report as a smear camapiagn against the Nigerian military. He also told THISDAY newspapers that the burial that took place was not that of the purported 105 dead or missing soldiers.