The Nigerian Army (NA) has dissociated itself from information on social media to the effect that its scheduled annual exercise, Crocodile Smile IV, is being organized to stifle the ongoing ENDSARS protests in various parts of the country.
Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sagir Musa, in a statement released today, emphasized that the information was unfounded, and that the exercise has no relationship whatsoever with any organized peaceful protests. He decried the wrongful condemnation of the Army and its leadership by social media users over the announcement of the Exercise, particularly the Cyber Warfare Component.
Col. Musa had, yesterday, announced in a similar press statement, of the readiness of the Army for this year’s Exercise CROCODILE Smile IV, scheduled to commence from the 20th of October to the 31st of December 2020 as part of the NA’s calendar of events which traditionally hold from October to December.
He said that for people to now insinuate that it is an exercise meant to interfere with the ongoing protests is, to say the least, highly misleading, reiterating that Exercise CROCODILE SMILE VI has nothing to do with the ongoing protests, and that the NA has never been involved in them in any form whatsoever. He stated matter-of-factly that so far, the army has acted professionally since the civil protest started over two weeks ago.
The army, by the statement, hereby enjoins all law-abiding Nigerians to go about their lawful activities unhindered as the Exercise has nothing to do with ENDSARS protests, but is a yearly event meant for the training of to NA officers and soldiers in its efforts to ensure safety and security of Nigeria and her citizens.
