Army calls activist ‘criminal’ over fundraising campaign for Nigerian soldiers

The army says it is working with the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) to declare Perry Brimah, a Nigerian activist in diaspora, wanted for alleged fraud.

Brimah, a columnist, has consistently spoken on the plight of the soldiers combating Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east.

He launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to provide food for the soldiers in that part of the country.

Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, Sani Usman, spokesman of the army, said the campaign by Brimah is “fraudulent”.

Usman said Brimah embarked on the venture “ostensibly to defraud unsuspecting members of the public, especially the international community to fund subversive activities and personal lifestyle”.

“The criminal is using the following contact points for the fund raising, https://www.gofundme.com/feed-nigerian-soldiers/info @ ENDS.ng Tel: +1-929-427-5305; Whatsapp: +234-903-420-3031,” he said.

“We wish to state that the Nigerian soldiers deployed to the north-east or elsewhere, neither lack logistics nor food as the fraudster wants unsuspecting members of the public to believe.

“The Nigerian army never faltered in providing necessary logistics to troops to the extent of providing extras, especially during festive periods.”

The army spokesman said there is nowhere in the world that troops are fed through donations.

He said there are no complaints of lack of food or starvation from soldiers.

“Whoever believes and fall victim to this criminal act does so at his or her own risk,” he said.

TheCable had reported how soldiers beg for food and sleep in classrooms over lack of accommodation.

But Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, said there was no case of hunger among the troops.