Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded the setting up of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the reported burial of 1,000 fallen Nigerian soldiers in a secret mass grave.

He also wanted another panel of inquiry to determine the true state of the war against terror in the country.

In a statement personally issued by the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2019 election, he maintained that Nigerians were entitled to know the truth.

His statement followed the report published by the United States-based Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which exposed the alleged practice of secretly burying fallen soldiers without the consent of their family members.

Atiku expressed shock that such cover-up could occur in the country, saying that men and women of the nation’s armed forces deserved more respect.

The statement reads: “I read the report by the Wall Street Journal that over a thousand Nigerian soldiers have been secretly buried at night by the General Muhammadu Buhari led administration, in order to hide the true state of the war on terror, with a sense of heartbreak and shock.

“Heartbreak for the families and friends of those soldiers who, if the report is true, have lost their loved ones, without being allowed to bury them or even to have any sense of closure as regards their fate.” (Nigerian Tribune)