The army has come under intense scrutiny in recent times especially from international organisations on human rights violations but has distanced itself from the act of its personnel on Monday.
The Nigerian Army has vowed to apprehend soldiers in a viral video showing the extrajudicial killing of suspected Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East.
The army has come under intense scrutiny in recent times especially from international organisations on human rights violations but has distanced itself from the act of its personnel on Monday.
In a post on Twitter, the army said it would punish officers in the shocking video.
The tweet reads, "The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a video reportedly showing some personnel engaged in unprofessional torture and above all extrajudicial killing of a suspected Boko Haram terrorist likely in the North East Theatre of Operation.
"The Army wishes to clearly and strongly condemn the action of those involved (whoever they may be) in the misconduct, and that the dastardly act is completely unacceptable, unethical and is against the cherished core values of the NA especially that of respect for others and their fundamental rights.
"NA training, rules of engagement and standing operating procedures guiding the conduct of all her operations are unambiguous about human rights abuses and extrajudicial actions including the rights of the arrested/captured terrorists/combatants.
"Troops in the various theatres of operations in Nigeria have been consistently warned to desist from rights infractions of any form no matter the amount of desperation, anger or provocation.
"NA does not license, encourage or condone indiscipline, unprofessional conduct especially extrajudicial execution of suspects or combatants.
"Wherever such is noticed or reported, once it is confirmed, appropriate decisive sanction or punishment is usually immediately meted out to the perpetrators and this case would never be an exception.
"Accordingly, on seeing the gory video, NA has commenced thorough investigation to apprehend the culprits with the aim to deal with them in accordance with the extant military justice system.
“Members of the public will surely be informed of the results of the actions taken so far.
"The NA, as a responsible and law abiding organisation, will remain professional in the discharge of its constitutional roles and will continue to operate within the ambit of the law in line with local and international best practices."