The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor has disclosed that the military and other security agencies have always come under intense pressure to compromise during elections.
The CDS revealed this during the ministerial weekly briefing in Abuja on Thursday, adding such pressure had come through various financial inducements.
Irabor called on Nigerians to anchor their trust in the military as they strive to maintain neutrality in accordance with the president’s directive.
Giving updates of the achievements recorded by the military in the fight against insurgency, terrorism and banditry, the CDS said that personnel were being trained to follow the codified rules of engagement before, during and after the elections.
According to him, over 300,000 persons have been freed from kidnappers since 2016 while refugees who fled the northeast owing to insurgency were returning.
Admitting that the existence of internal sabotage within the military, Irabor said such had not succeeded.
While debunking recent report by Reuters that the military had carried out over 10,000 illegal abortions on female victims of the war in the Northeast, the CDS said the military would not engage in planned abortion program since 2013, adding that as commander of Operation Lafia Dole between 2016 and 2017, he never heard of any such thing.
