The Nigerian Army (NA) says it has credible intelligence confirming the kitting of political thugs with military uniforms and arming them to impersonate soldiers.

The spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Colonel Sagir Musa, in a statement on Sunday, said the thugs were sent to carry out crimes in furtherance of the activities of their political bosses.

He said: “Sadly, these thugs have been wrongly viewed and addressed as real military personnel on various social and mainstream media channels including blogs, chat rooms and messaging platforms.

“The Army understands that most civilians caught in the callous onslaught of these murderous thugs might not be able to distinguish between genuine soldiers from an impersonator, especially when they are armed with military-type weapons.”

He said some arrested impostors have given useful information on this regard.

He said the Army would continue with investigations being pursued to bring to successful prosecution, both the arrested impostors and their sponsors.

•Sourced from a Daily Trust report