The Nigerian Army has pleaded with Nigerians on social media not to share graphic pictures of its personnel killed in the cause of defending and protecting the country from its adversaries.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima made the plea in a statement, on Tuesday, in Abuja.
Yerima said the act was not only unpatriotic but insensitive and utterly reprehensible.
He said that the officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army deployed to various theatres of internal security operations were on legitimate duties.
Yerima said that they were also in harm’s way to defend and protect the country from those bent on destroying it.
The Army spokesperson said that troops put their lives on the line to ensure that innocent citizens and institutions of the state were protected from violent criminals in the course of carrying out the constitutional mandate.
He also said that sometimes, the gallant officers and soldiers were meted with the worst form of savagery by the heartless adversaries whose intent was to instil fear in the citizenry.
He, however, question the glee with which some people shared the gory pictures of officers and soldiers who were either killed-in-action or wounded-in-action in the media.
“These unpatriotic acts are often done without any modicum of consideration for the memories of the departed personnel or their family members.
“In some cases, their loved ones do find out about their unfortunate death in such callous manner before they are even contacted by the military authorities.
“One can only imagine the trauma and pain such families go through waking up to see the gory pictures of their loved ones splashed on the social media.
“The Nigerian Army consider this despicable and unpatriotic act totally unacceptable and will henceforth take legal actions to protect troops who die in action from being ridiculed on social media or any platform,” he said.
