The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has described report that the French military has established or is planning to establish a base in Nigeria as totally false and mischievous.
The Defence Headquarters said this in a statement by its director of media operations, Major General Edward Buba on Monday.
A human rights activist, Mahdi Shehu, criticised the government on Saturday in a post for denying the development.
In a video-accompanied post, Shehu claimed that some French military officers had arrived in Borno State as part of the process to set up the base.
The post partly read, “Last week, the Chief of Defence Staff denied any plan to establish French military bases in Nigeria.
“Yesterday, the Chief of Army Staff received the first contingent of French soldiers and immediately deployed them to Maiduguri to ‘HELP NIGERIA IN FIGHTING BOKO HARAM.’ The same Boko Haram they claimed to have decimated and are scampering for safety.
“Before the blinking of an eye, a FRANCE military base will be physically seen in Maiduguri, perhaps before the new year, so that they will ‘FIGHT’ Boko Haram and begin to explore and prospect huge mineral resources and surely begin to exploit, harass, intimidate, kill, incapacitate, and annihilate the local people, which is typical of France’s presence in Africa.”
Reacting in a statement on Monday, Buba, dismissed the claim as fake and mischievous.
He said; “The attention of Defence Headquarters has been drawn to online reports alleging the arrival of the first contingent of French soldiers in Maiduguri towards establishing a French Military base in North East Nigeria.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria hereby state unequivocally that this information is fake, totally false and mischievous. It would be recalled that Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa CFR, recently addressed this matter in different media forums. In which he debunked the news and such speculations.”
He therefore urged the general public to disregard the news and speculations still making rounds in some quarters, describing it the antics of mischief makers.
He added the military will continue to carry out its constitutional responsibilities, most professionally and ensure the territorial integrity of Nigeria.