…No, We Didn’t Withdraw Soldiers – Army 

 

 

In his reaction to allegations the soldiers were withdrawn from Zaria area before the suicide bomb attacks, the Commandant, Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria, Brigadier General Hussaini Salihu said no particular soldier was stationed at any particular place of worship.
Brig. Gen. Salihu also denied the allegation that the leadership or members of the bombed ECWA Church, Wusasa, Zaria applied for soldiers to guard the church, saying, “There is no such application on my table.”
The Army General, who spoke to LEADERSHIP in a telephone interview, said, as part of the community under his command, soldiers patrol areas where there are churches, just like every other places, especially on worship days, but it was impossible to station soldiers at a particular worship place when there were many other places to patrol.
According to him, only Zaria and Sabon Gari, out of the seven local government areas under Depot Nigerian Army, are in Zaria City, hence it was not expected to concentrate security surveillance only in the city, leaving out other local governments.
“What we do is that, when it is Sunday, we withdraw soldiers from checkpoints to go on patrol.