Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has called for judicial inquiry into a report by Wall Street Journal of over 1,000 Nigerian soldiers who were allegedly secretly buried by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The report published on Wednesday said: “The bodies are laid by flashlight into trenches dug by infantrymen or local villagers paid a few dollars per shift.”
“Several of my comrades were buried in unmarked graves at night,” a soldier from the Maimalari barracks, where more than 1,000 soldiers are based, was quoted saying.
The report alleged that the Federal Government had since last year stopped reporting the deaths of soldiers in its fight with Boko Haram insurgents and a splinter group called the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In a statement on Thursday, Atiku said he read the report with “a sense of heartbreak and shock.”
He added: “To ensure that we get to the bottom of this matter, I urge that a Judicial Commission of Inquiry headed by a non-partisan and reputable jurist, be inaugurated to investigate the findings of the Wall Street Journal.
“While this is occurring, I also strongly urge that a panel of inquiry comprising of distinguished former military officers be set up to investigate and report to Nigerians the true state of the war on terror and what must be done to ensure Nigeria brings a speedy end to the ongoing insurgency.”
He described the alleged cover-up of the deaths of as “a national emergency that should shock all statesmen and leaders of thoughts into action to save Nigeria.”
