The Operation Python Dance II reportedly targeting members of Independent People of Biafra has been criticized of late thereby attracting a response from the leadership of the Nigerian Army.
Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Lt General Tukur Buratai
Following the condemnation by the Senate that the Nigerian Army acted outside the purview of the Nigerian Constitution in the clampdown on Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the invasion of the South-east region, the Army has insisted that it acted within the ambit of the constitution.
Opposition and criticisms have continued to trail the Army’s deployment in the South-east and the crackdown on IPOB members.
Constitutional lawyers have also lampooned the Nigerian military and the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) for abusing the 1999 Constitution, and derogating the provisions of Section 217 of the constitution and the Terrorism Act 2014.
But speaking in Abuja, the Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Lt General Tukur Buratai, said Monday that the military acted constitutionally and within the purview of the law.
Buratai contended that the military is under compulsion to uphold the constitutional responsibility and protect the lives and properties in the face of internal and external threats to territorial integrity of the nation.