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The Nigerian Army has urged the public to be wary of negative propaganda the Eastern Security Network (ESN) is spreading against the service.

It also urged the public to discountenance a video the group allegedly pushed out to discredit the military.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said this in a statement in Abuja.

Nwachukwu alleged that ESN members engaged in negative propaganda to portray the troops in bad light before the public.

The Army spokesman stressed that secessionist sympathisers recently released a video on YouTube, featuring blurred images of some persons dressed in green camouflage while destroying a farmland in an undisclosed location.

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He said the authors of the video mischievously attributed the action in the video to Nigerian soldiers in an attempt to tarnish the image of the Army.

According to him, following a fact-finding investigation on the video by subjecting it to credible reverse image, it was discovered that the video was first published on YouTube channel of “BIAFRA BOY”.

“The investigation also revealed that the image of the men in green camouflage was deliberately blurred to conceal their identity from viewers.

“Similarly, the authors failed to identify the location, community, or local government area the incident occurred.

“Given these facts, it is apparent that the video footage is a deliberate propaganda by ESN to bring the reputation and image of the Army to disrepute by portraying its personnel as enemies of the people.”

The Army spokesman urged the public to be wary of such negative propaganda materials by subjecting them to thorough scrutiny.

“We reassure the public that the Nigerian Army will continue to operate professionally, regardless of all divisive propaganda.

“We assure all peace-loving Nigerians of our commitment to aid civil authorities in the containment of security challenges in line with constitutional provisions,” he said.