The announcement came a few days after Amnesty International urged the Nigerian authorities to immediately put a stop to unlawful killings by security forces, in the wake of the alleged killing of at least 23 people by soldiers following a bomb blast on Saturday Maiduguri.
‘The Defence Headquarters does not take the issue of misconduct lightly when it comes to any serving officer because we abide by rules of engagements in all our operations,’ Petinrin said.
‘In line with this, the commander of the JTF has initiated the process of trial of five officers suspected to have committed acts of misconduct while carrying out operations in Maiduguri,’ he said. ‘Any officer found to have gone against our rules of engagement will be brought to book.’
But the defence chief rejected calls for the withdrawal of the troops deployed to Maiduguri, saying they would remain in the city.
‘While people are calling for the withdrawal I am busy strengthening the JTF to make it easy for us to attain our goal of securing peace,’ he said.