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Tag: Amnesty International

  • Amnesty International: It must not be Nigeria!

    Initially, I was extremely reluctant to subscribe to the argument that Amnesty International (AI) the global human rights watchdogs might be doing a hatchet job on Nigeria in a disguised fashion. Often, when I read AI’s bickering with the Nigeria Police, Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and lately, the Nigeria Military over reportage of conflicts and crises in the country, I dismissed it as the usual face-off between two antagonistic forces.
    From my personal experiences, Nigerian security forces and CSOs have always faulted AI’s reports or public statements bordering on alleged human rights violations, casualty figures, illegal detention of suspects, extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, and the likes. Quite frequently, one finds every establishment AI has labeled in negation and sometimes, even convicted in public domain of alleged crimes on humanity hotly contesting the factuality of such reports.
    But it took a keener interest in the operations of AI when some CSOs and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) also started questioning AI’s reports or outrightly branded them as fabrications or falsehood.  What ignited my interest more in the altercations between AI and its antagonists was the insinuation that the international organization is suspected of being a masked agent secretly working for external forces determined to ensure the break-up of Nigeria by sponsoring violence and killings in the country.
    And to my dismay, I discovered that the alarms raised against AI may not be far from the truth. But it needs further interrogation to unearth the unassailable truth. I decided to pay closer attention to its operations. And what repulsively struck my senses is AI’s marketing of itself like a media house or a fresh local tabloid struggling to catch the attention of readers.
    Attempt to Google general news on Amnesty International, what assails you immediately is a thousand news bulletins or press statements about the crises or killings in Nigeria and other such allied crimes it reports rendered very sensationally. And at a point, I wondered whether AI has transmuted into a media organization with such rampancy or Nigeria is the only country in Africa or the world under conflict. There are a plenty.
    AI’s Nigeria country director, Ms. Ossai Ojigho is very active in engaging the Nigerian public and the international community about casualty figures each time Boko Haram strikes in the Northeast. What has appalled me is that sometimes, AI gets and publishes the death toll figure much faster than the military authorities on the field.
    Or the news is released at a time it is not  even reasonable to assume the local population would have regained themselves from the attacks to gather the casualty figures bandied by AI in conflicts of that magnitude.  And they end up quoting anonymous sources in such reports to back up the clear fictitious claims.   It all raises very fundamental suspicions about the real motive of AI in Nigeria.
    For instance, AI released a statement on Friday, February 1st, 2019 claiming Boko Haram has killed at least 60 persons (civilians) in Rann, Northeastern Borno state in an attack the preceding Monday, which was January 31, 2019. It beats my imagination or defeats the concept of reasonableness for AI to have gathered a figure of the people killed within three days of the alleged attack on Rann to publish.
    And AI’s eagerness to stoke the fire is gleaned from this phrase in the report; “Witnesses told us (AI) that Nigerian soldiers abandoned their posts the day before the attack, demonstrating the authorities’ utter failure to protect civilians.”
    Also, AI could not even feign reaching any official source for verification of the “facts” it had, but proceeded to publish the story.  Was this action supposed to give the insurgents a feeling of triumph and embolden them into committing more atrocities?
    To betray itself as unsure of what it was doing, AI further wrote; “This attack on civilians who have already been displaced by the bloody conflict may amount to possible war crimes, and those responsible must be brought to justice.” I sense this narration in every sense of accuracy and factuality as very poor and something which should not be credited to a supposedly responsible organization such as AI, if it is concerned about its reputation steadily being battered with its own hands.
    And I kept encountering the same lapses even in AI’s previous annual reports. The reports pass more  as a rehash what it packaged the preceding year. A Presidency amazed at this pattern of reportage reacted  at AI’s 2017/2018 annual report on rights violations in Nigeria through its Spokesman on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu who stated;   “In some breath, the report seemed like the one in 2015, and the one in 2016, and the one after that year, the same things being recycled again and again. Engagement was claimed to have been made with Nigerian authorities but which authority is it, is not provided with clarity.”
    Similarly, the Nigeria Army is also questioning the sanctity of the claims often published by AI and at a point advocated for the closure of Amnesty International’s country office in Nigeria and its operations.
    But even when one tries to close his eyes to the defects in AI’s operation, the glaring lapses keep  drawing attention. Furthermore, in same year 2018 ending, AI claimed at least 3,641 people have died from clashes between farmers and herders in Nigeria since 2016.
    And the human rights organization, like a court of law passed its verdict of judgement on the Nigerian Government; It stated, “The Nigerian government has displayed what can only be described as gross incompetence and has failed in its duty to protect the lives of its population.”  It sounded to me like wordings of an opposition political on its campaign flyer.
    But I believe AI has full knowledge of the intervention of the military in these crises and the Army’s operations in these conflicts at various times, such as “Operation Harbin Kunama I, II & III,” versions, “Operation Sharan Daji,” “Operation Whirl Stroke”, “Exercise Ayem Akpatema,” and so forth.
    And arrests and prosecutions of suspects is ongoing in various courts in the land. So, when AI claims, “Yet, little has been done by the authorities in terms of prevention, arrests and prosecutions….” It sounds hoarse and bespeaks of a concealed and dangerous agenda the organization is promoting against the peace and security of Nigeria.
    If AI honestly admits that the efforts of security agents have not ended the farmers/herders’ crises, which is not even true as admitted by Governors of Taraba and Benue states recently, it will appeal more sensibly than propagating this gibberish.
    Therefore, I am forced to suspect like others that AI’s agenda in Nigeria is to disguise under the veil of an international human rights watch body, while its actions suggest backing foreign interests bent on the violent dismemberment of Nigeria. I understand that when AI harps on rampant rights violations in Nigeria, it is a ploy to prevent America and other countries to consent to selling weapons to Nigeria in order to battle Boko Haram terrorism.
    And it is pursuing this agenda very ferociously and without recourse to decency. I want to believe the scheming of AI is also to get some Nigerian military officers who have stood firmly against Boko Haram insurgency charged for war crimes to weaken counter-insurgency operations so that the sect could triumph over the Nigerian state.
    Yes, agreed, AI is an international organization and perhaps, initially came with every good intention for the country. But as things appear now, it seems they have betrayed this trust and Nigerians no longer trust their mission and operations in the country. Our citizens are still scared by AI’s record in other countries which have fueled conflicts and we see a conscious replication of same agenda in Nigeria.
    Even for the media, ethical creed demand that you do not report violence crisis in a manner that can cause reprisals and escalation of the conflict. Such indulgence by AI is reprehensible.
    Nigerians fear AI is being used to plunge us into war. The fit and most ethical thing to do for an organization which has squandered it’s goodwill like AI is to quit our country. Please, AI, it must not be Nigeria. Look elsewhere and spare our citizens further agonies.  I like the wisdom of our people who say, marriage is not by force. AI cannot teach us how to better protect our citizens.
    Njoku a legal practitioner wrote from Festa town, Lagos.

  • FG, Nigerians get caution note from Europe against Amnesty International

    The Federal Government and her citizens have been warned by some concerned Nigerians in the diaspora, under the aegis of Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe (ANPE) about the impending plot by Amnesty International (AI) to destabilise the country.
    A London-based non-governmental organization, AI was originally focused on human rights, especially in war-ravaged nations.
    However, this humanitarian element appears to have diminished in recent times as the group has rather embraced controversy, deceit and falsehood.
    In the countries where Amnesty International operates, more facts emerged on how some political interests’ shapes the group’s narrative.
    It is now believed that AI is engaged in politically-motivated propaganda simply hiding behind instead of human rights advocacy.
    In Nigeria, for instance, the group launched countless offensive against the Nigerian Army, hoarding facts and propagating fallacy to paint the military negative in the international community.
    Having thoroughly examined the activities of Amnesty International by  members scattered across Europe, Nigerian professionals, however, concluded that the modus operandi deployed in these nations is the same employed in Nigeria.
    The group made this disclosure in a communique jointly signed by President Dr. Agwu Onyeke and 11 other leaders.
    According to these Nigerian professionals, Amnesty International is out to disintegrate the nation hence should be treated as a criminal organisation.
    “ Amnesty International going by recent crisis rocking its headquarters in London, is indeed an organization that is defective in ethics and morals. Its workplace is filled with people with diverse interest and bullying managers.
    “ There were also reports of managers belittling staff in meetings and making demeaning and menacing comments like ‘You should quit. If you stay in this position, your life will be a misery.’ There were also multiple accounts of discrimination based on race and gender, and in which women, staff of colour, and LGBT employees were allegedly targeted or maltreated.
    “ The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe states that Amnesty International is an organization that engages in psychological terrorism in all of the countries over time. The Nigerian government must, as a matter of urgency take the activities of Amnesty International in Nigeria seriously if it is desirous of remaining united as a country.
    “ The Association of Nigerian Professionals in Europe also wishes to advise the authorities in Nigeria to do all within its powers to ensure that the activities of Amnesty International in Nigeria are curtailed.
    “ Amnesty International has not only struggled with its core mandate, but it has also systematically introduced concepts aimed at creating relevance for its self in the light of its dwindling reputation of churning out inaccurate reports often devoid of verifiable facts, instead, on rumours and assumptions.
    “ Amnesty International has also exhibited political inclinations that in a way, present its self as a parallel government or a threat to the political stability of countries where it operates, including Nigeria.
    “ The government of Nigeria must, therefore, act swiftly by realizing that Amnesty International as an organization is out to cause disintegrating Nigeria. They must continue to educate and sanitize Nigerians on the atrocious activities of Amnesty International and the plot to create the break-up of Nigeria like in other countries where it has operated.
    “ The Nigerian Government must henceforth treat Amnesty International as a criminal gang consisting of people with despicable motives aimed at causing disaffection among the various ethnic and religious groups in Nigeria.”

  • Amnesty International: When an umpire becomes a vested party

    Let’s play a game. Take a statement issued by Amnesty International, or a story credited to the NGO, strip it of the organization’s name and read the story again. The outcome is that one would be left with a head scratching situation. The resulting story from this exercise would give one the impression that the statement or story emanated from one of Nigeria’s opposition political parties, their affiliates or one of the groups proscribed as terrorist organizations.

    A read through Amnesty International’s manifesto reveals a non-governmental organization that is committed to holding government accountable for complying with the required adherence to human rights. In the double speak of NGO circuit, it is an organization that “speaks truth to power”. But this is a concept that has been so abused in recent years, especially by the Nigerian franchise of the organization, that it is now practically lying to power.

    This transition from an impartial organization into an actively partisan interest is a travesty. In instances that it has to weigh in on human rights situation, Amnesty International has perfected a script that automatically and persistently casts the Federal Government of Nigeria as the aggressor and whatever group is contending with the government as the victim.

    Sadly, this stereotyping of the situation has created a culture of ignoring the wrongdoings of such groups. Take for instance the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a proscribed terrorist group, which Amnesty International has futilely canonized as incapable of doing anything bad. But in reality it is a group that imposes economic blockades that threatens the livelihood of families, extort the local population, hurl hate speech against persons of other ethnic nationalities, engages in enforced disappearances, murder people and bury them in mass graves and sundry crimes. Yet each time IPOB members take their brigandage to the streets and law enforcement personnel brings them under control Amnesty International starts singing its repression song. It makes demands for IPOB members to get free passes without holding them to account for the crimes they commit on daily basis.

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) is even more virulent than IPOB and, not surprisingly, more beholden to Amnesty International. This parliament-invading, cop-killing and journalist-killing rabid group enjoys the protection of Amnesty International, which continues to frame it as a peaceful entity even when the judiciary ruled that it is a terrorist group that has now been so designated by the country. IMN’s specialty is denying others the freedom of movement by obstructing their right of way. Entreaty  by security agencies to vacate such obstruction of other people’s right of way usually result in them launching slingshots, projectiles and cudgels that have repeatedly resulted in fatalities. This group is however “harmless” in the estimate of Amnesty International. The rights of the IMN terrorists matters, the Nigerians that are their victims are inconsequential while the security personnel that try to enforce order are rights abusers.

    Somewhere else in the mix is an opposition that has been named as sponsoring violence, reported to have armed ethnic militias and terrorist groups in its bid to grab power. Some of its members have been indicted for terrorist financing amongst other things. The opposition has in several instances been fingered in financing IPOB and IMN. This has been going on for a while.

    Fast forward to recent days and weeks. IPOB, IMN, the opposition and a pack of commercial activists came together with the stated goal of overthrowing the government. It didn’t matter that the way they wanted to achieve their objective was through days of rage that the protests’ leaders clearly stated will include “bundling” elected persons out of office. It is immaterial that they spoke of destroying security organizations that could stand in their way. Amnesty International not only mislabelled this enterprise as amounting to free expression, it also became an active promoter of the protests. This effectively implies that the organization is among those calling for a forceful overthrow of the government through means that are not recognized democratically.

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    The point has to be made that Amnesty International has a right to join the protests and protesters. But once it does that it loses the right to play the role of an umpire. Its views are clouded its affiliation to these extreme groups and their ideologies. Can Amnesty International therefore still be a judge in its case against the Nigerian government having clearly demonstrated to be an interested party? The answer is simple. No.

    Worse than aligning with those plotting to overthrow the government is the tendency of the NGO to engage in a tiff with the Nigerian authorities. This raises the question of the objectivity of the positions it adopts as well as its reports – interim and comprehensive. If they are objective, as they should be, then it will not have to get into confrontations to validate itself. That is a function of unbiased track record.

    With a record as tainted and as biased as Amnesty International currently holds in Nigeria it will take some time and a lot of damage control, with fence mending, for it to regain that position of an impartial umpire.  The established partisanship of the group must be at the core of the angst of groups that are demanding that it should leave Nigeria. An organization that prides itself as fighting for the rights of people is now seen as the threat to those rights. Rather than address these concerns and make amends, the target of the people’s anger has rather responded with belligerent arrogance that confirmed that it has no desire of halting its targeted attacks against the Nigerian state.

    The Federal Government would have to take concrete steps to curtail the powers that Amnesty International has arrogated to itself as an opposition player and umpire since this does not bode well for any country, least of all a Nigeria that is fighting terrorism and other forms of contrived security breaches. It has to recalibrate the status of Amnesty International in Nigeria in line with growing citizens’ demand. The exercise should ask and seek answers to pertinent questions: is Amnesty International an NGO, a political party, terrorist group or a parallel government?

    In conclusion, the recent and ongoing events present opportunities for Amnesty International. It is a chance to review the way it conducts itself in Nigeria and come up with reformed approaches to issues. If it has to temporarily close shop to achieve this then it should. It cannot continue to arrogate the role of an umpire to itself while being actively partisan.

     

    Ibekwe, a civil rights activist wrote from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

     

  • DHQ Cautions Amnesty International on latest report

    The Defence Headquarters on Monday cautioned Amnesty International to desist from campaign of calumny against the Nigerian Armed Forces.

    The Acting Director of Defence Information Col. Onyema Nwachukwu who sounded the warning said AI latest report against troops on alleged sexual assault in detention facilities in the northeast was malacious and false.

    Col Nwachukwu said in a statement that the report was another calculated attempt to ridicule the armed forces.

    Col. Nwachukwu said: “The Defence Headquarters has taken note of yet another ill-conceived report by Amnesty International (AI) aimed at disparaging the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) in the fight against terrorism and counter-insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country.

    “The AI’s recent allegation that its investigation has revealed sexual assaults in detention facilities at Giwa Barracks Maiduguri and the Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison is only a rehash of its characteristic unfounded and ill-conceived accusations against the AFN.

    ” While the AFN will not speak for the authorities of the Maiduguri Maximum Prison, we wish to emphatically state that such allegations are mere concoction of the organization and the interest it seeks to represent.

    ” The report is nothing but an attempt to push further its campaign of calumny against the AFN, as the allegations are remotely impossible.

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    “It is instructive for AI and their sponsors who may be more interested in the failure of Nigeria in the ongoing fight against terrorism and insurgency to note that these accusations are unfounded and a very poor attempt at dampening the morale of troops of the AFN.

    “The Giwa barracks detention facility is a national facility, therefore, the suspects or inmates are jointly handled by professional investigators drawn from the Defence Intelligence Agency, Nigerian Police, Department of State Security, Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Prisons Service and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

    “It is therefore, near impossible for these team of professionals to look the other way, while sexual violations are perpetrated as wrongly insinuated by AI.

    “It is also pertinent to add that the detention facility has adequate representation of highly professional members of International Organisations and Non-Governmental Agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other reputable NGOs that have unfettered access to the facility and  scrutinize its activities from time to time in accordance with international best practices in managing detainees.

    “While other reputable international organisations in the North East and other parts of the country have been working to bring about enduring peace in the North East, it is rather unfortunate that AI has impenitently chosen a path that seeks to denigrate the AFN, a task it has continued to pursue blindly and tenaciously through its glaring bias reports.

    “The DHQ wishes to appeal to members of the public and the international community to discountenance AI’s malicious report and continue to give  requisite support to the AFN in the fight against terrorism, insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country.

  • Group warns Amnesty International over conspiracy to destabilize Nigeria

    The Amnesty International has been warned against playing “devil’s advocate” over alleged conspiracy to destabilise the entity called Nigeria.

     

    The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre (SHAC), which handed down this warning to AI, said it was shocked over the comment by the group on the recent clash between Shiites and security personnel in Abuja.

     

     

    Amnesty International had faulted the security personnel for using force against the violent group.

     

    Reacting, however, SHAC through its Executive Secretary, Ibrahim Abubakar, at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, said it was obvious AI was working with those conspiring to make Nigeria ungovernable.

     

    The group, therefore, called on Amnesty International to discontinue its open support for terrorism in Nigeria forthwith.

     

    Full text of his speech below.

     

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    Gentlemen, the Save Humanity Advocacy Centre, SHAC, is disappointed but not surprised by the decision of Amnesty International (Nigeria) to become sectarian through its endorsement of the terrorist acts of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN. We are not surprised because Amnesty International has made it clear in all instances of security breaches in Nigeria that it has an agenda that is geared towards the termination of Nigeria as a corporate entity.

     

    Amnesty International has been running an endorsement campaign for and on behalf of IMN. It exploits these campaigns to legitimize the acts of terror being committed by the radicalized IMN members without recognizing that there are victims in the criminality being perpetrated by the IMN. Rather, it is the IMN that has been painted into victimhood while the Nigerian state, its organs and agencies have been branded as aggressors when all they are doing is to protect the life and property of citizens, which is a primary responsibility of government.

     

    Even at a time when it is taken for granted that Amnesty International cannot sink lower than it already has in supporting terrorists like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, it has successfully broken its own record at being irresponsible. On a day that IMN militants shot at policemen and killed a Deputy Commissioner of Police, other policemen, a journalist and innocent Nigerians, Amnesty International still managed to cause outrage by continuing to defend the attacks carried out by its militants.

    Gentlemen of the press, even when our members and other Nigerians witnessed IMN militants attacking and shooting other Nigerians, Amnesty International, shamelessly tweeted that the Federal Government is clamping down on “peaceful protesters”.

     

    One of the lying tweets reads, “This new crackdown is part of a shocking pattern in which security forces have used live ammunition to disperse IMN supporters who are simply exercising their freedom of expression.”

     

    We are at a loss as to at what point invading the parliament, attacking policemen and other Nigerians became freedom of expression.

     

    We are also trying hard to reconcile the relationship between freedom of expression and arson, in which IMN militants set vehicles ablaze in a development that did not spare emergency ambulances.

    In furtherance of its propaganda, aimed at insulating IMN from retribution for its terrorist attacks in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, Amnesty International accused the Nigerian police of “reckless use of lethal force” “against unarmed supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN)”. Even if IMN had falsely claimed in the past that its members were not armed, their attack on the National Assembly, which killed at least two policemen, should have forced the NGO to reassess the kind of lies it is willing to tell on behalf of IMN.

     

    An organization that has regards for truth would have known that there are videos and pictures that capture the aspects of the protests it is hiding from the world.

    Amnesty International’s tweet storm about the attack not only painted IMN militants as armless but went on to lament that they were “being driven from the streets of Abuja. This marks the height of irresponsibility, one that we believe the Nigerian government should firmly censure in order for the world not to be misled into believing the lies being told by the NGO.

     

    Had the IMN members been left on the streets of Abuja, there is no telling the extent of lives that would have been lost to their attacks. Leaving the militants on the streets would have also resulted in further damages to public property, which Amnesty International omitted to mention, even though they destroyed government facilities worth billions of naira.

     

    The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre condemn Amnesty International in the strongest terms possible for its destabilization agenda in Nigeria and for its refusal to see beyond this agenda even when IMN has accepted responsibility a clear case which the IMN have admitted blames the AI still wants to twist the narrative. This is unfortunate and well-meaning Nigerians and members of the society demand immediate apology from AI.

     

    We demand that Amnesty International discontinue its open support for terrorism in Nigeria forthwith. Contrary to the way the NGO is carrying on, Nigeria is not banana republic and cannot be coerced into taking instructions from Amnesty International or be scared of it IMN terrorist collaborators.

     

     

  • Rann: Nigerian Army faults Amnesty International

    The Nigerian Army has faulted reports by Amnesty International to the effect that 60 people were killed in Rann,  Borno State, following the withdrawal of troops from the area. The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu explained in a statement that the said attacks by Boko Haram was carried out on the 14 of January, and troops of Operation Lafiya Dole responded gallantly, by killing some of the terrorists while others escaped with gunshot wounds.

    “The attention of the Theatre  Command Operation LAFIYA DOLE has been drawn to recent claims by Amnesty International (AI) that troops’ abandonment of their deployment led to the killing of 60 civilians in Rann on 28 January 2019. Undoubtedly, it is disheartening that the situation of Internally Displaced Persons( IDPs) who are already traumatized having been displaced from their ancestral homes by insurgency is being further aggravated by recent callous Boko Haram attack on the IDP community.

    “However, it is most unacceptable and unfair for AI to make such outlandish and unverified claims that troops abandoned their deployment a day before Boko Haram attack on the location, thereby exposing the IDPs to a deadly attack. This claim is not only bereft of truth, but in its usual mannerism, another futile effort by AI to portray the Nigerian military as incapable, as well as project the Nigerian government as not protective of her people in the eyes of the global community. It is therefore inevitable to address this misinformation being peddled and fed the public,  from  AI’s obviously uninformed report.

    “It must be clarified that contrary to insinuations by AI that troops abandoned their deployment a day before Boko Haram astorgous attack on Rann  on 28 January 2019, Rann never actually came under any attack on the date claimed by AI. Rather Rann experienced  that unfortunate attack on 14 January 2018 and in that encounter, the troops proved their mettle and gallantry by neutralizing two suicide bombers and three Boko Haram foot soldiers, while several took to their heels with gun shot wounds.

    “With the support of troops from the Muliti National Joint Task, who later joined in the battle, the  insurgents were finally overpowered.

    ” Contrary to AI’s claims, at no point of the assessment , was any report of the killing of 60 civilians made either by the civilians themselves, whom the Sector Commander interacted with or by the members of the Joint Task Force who were at hand during the assessment. Again a Search and Rescue Operation that followed after the attack did not recover the said 60 bodies of killed civilians as AI would want members of the public to believe.The troops commenced a clearance operation in villages surrounding Rann and destroyed Boko Haram terrorists camps that were uncovered during the operation,” the statement read in part.

  • Rann: Army denies killing of 60 by Boko Haram

    The Nigerian Army on Saturday dismissed as misleading reports by the Amnesty International (AI), alleging that 60 displaced persons were killed by the Boko Haram insurgents at Rann community in Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno.

    Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Operation Lafiya Dole, made the clarification in a statement in Maiduguri.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Amnesty International in a report alleged that Boko Haram insurgents attacked the community sequel to the withdrawal of troops from the area.

    Nwachukwu disclosed that there was no evidence of such attack as well as murder of 60 persons by the insurgents on January 28; as claimed by the organization.

    He said: “The attention of the Theatre Command, Operation LAFIYA DOLE has been drawn to recent claims by Amnesty International (AI) that troops’ abandonment of their deployment led to the killing of 60 civilians in Rann on Jan. 28, 2018.

    “Undoubtedly, it is disheartening that the situation of Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs) who are already traumatized, having been displaced from their ancestral homes by insurgency, is being further aggravated by recent callous Boko Haram attack on the IDP community.

    “However; it is most unacceptable and unfair for AI to make such outlandish and unverified claims that troops abandoned their deployment a day before Boko Haram attack on the location, thereby exposing the IDPs to a deadly attack.

    “This claim is not only bereft of truth, but in its usual mannerism, another futile effort by AI to portray the Nigerian military as incapable and project the Nigerian government as not protective of her people in the eyes of the global community.

    “It is, therefore, inevitable to address this misinformation being peddled and fed the public from  AI’s obviously uninformed report’’.

    Nwachukwu explained that the insurgents attacked the community on Jan. 14, as against Jan. 28, as claimed by the Amnesty International.

    He added that during the encounter with the insurgents on Jan. 14, the troops proved their gallantry, neutralized two suicide bombers and three Boko Haram fighters, while several others fled with gunshot wounds.

    The army spokesperson revealed that the Theatre Commander, Maj. Gen. Benson Akinroluyo, accompanied by the Commander Sector 1, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Brig. Gen. Bulama Biu, conducted a long range patrol and battle damage assessment exercise at Rann and other adjoining communities in the area.

    He observed that the report of the assessment exercise indicated that there were no records of 60 persons killed in the insurgents’ attack as claimed by the AI.

    “Contrary to AI’s claims, at no point of the assessment indicated the killing of 60 persons made either by members of the community, whom the Sector Commander interacted with or by the members of the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), who were at hand during the assessment.

    “Again, the alleged 60 dead bodies were not recovered during search and rescue operation conducted after the attack, as AI would want members of the public to believe.

    “The troops commenced a clearance operation in villages surrounding Rann and destroyed Boko Haram terrorists’ camps that were uncovered during the operation.

    “In one of such clearance operations on Jan. 30, the troops encountered an ambush staged by the terrorists along Gamboru – Mafa Road and gallantly fought through it, overpowering the insurgents,” he said.

    According to Nwachukwu, another issue in the controversial AI report is the alleged attack on Rann on Jan. 28.

    He said, whereas there was no such attack, rather, an alarm was raised by IDPs in Rann over the sudden withdrawal of troops under the MNJTF from the location, to which the authorities of Operation LAFIYA quickly responded.

    “The Commander Sector, Operation LAFIYA DOLE returned to Rann on Jan. 29, with reinforcement troops to beef-up and support the troops there.

    “The astronomical statistics of human casualty touted by AI and the alleged abdication of duty by our selfless and resilient troops cannot hold water in the face of facts.

    “Facts of the several exemplary physical involvements of the Theatre Commander and the Commander Sector 1 as well as Commanders of 22 Brigade and 3 Battalion in ensuring normalcy returns to Rann and the reinforcement and replenishment of the troops,” Nwachukwu said.

    He also blamed the organisation for inability to verify facts in the compilation of its report, adding that the organisation wrongly accused the military of wrongdoing.

    Nwachukwu noted that the troops deployed to the frontlines become victims of the insurgents’ attacks and sacrificed their lives in defense of the people and the country .

    He said the military authorities were deeply touched by the demise of those who fell during the insurgents’ attack in Rann and sympathised with humanitarian organisations and aid workers affected by the attack.

    The army spokesman stressed that the atrocities perpetrated by the insurgents was a clarion call to international and local communities to support the Nigerian military to enable it end insurgency and restore peace to the troubled region.

    While reiterating the commitments of the Army to defend the nation’s territorial integrity, protect life and property, Nwachukwu said that the military would not be distracted from its duties by smear campaigns. (NAN)

  • 60 killed in deadliest Boko Haram attack on Rann, Borno —Amnesty International

    Amnesty International claimed yesterday that no fewer than  60 people were killed in the  January 28,2019  attack on Rann, Borno State, by Boko Haram.

    “We have now confirmed that this week’s attack on Rann was the deadliest yet by Boko Haram, killing at least 60 people,” Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria said in a statement.

    He added: “Using satellite imagery, we have also been able to confirm the mass burning of structures as Boko Haram unleashed a massive assault on Rann, most of which is now destroyed.

    “This attack on civilians, who have already been displaced by the bloody conflict, may amount to possible war crime, and those responsible must be brought to justice.”

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    He said: “Witnesses told us that Nigerian soldiers abandoned their posts the day before the attack, demonstrating the authorities’ utter failure to protect civilians.

    Source: Amnesty International

    “The terrorists allegedly stormed the town on motorcycles on the fateful day setting houses ablaze and killing those left behind.

    “Eleven bodies were found within Rann town, and 49 bodies were found outside”.

    Attempts to get the army for comments on the Amnesty International’s account yesterday did not succeed.

  • 60 killed in deadliest Boko Haram attack on Rann, Borno – Amnesty International

    Amnesty International claimed yesterday that no fewer than  60 people were killed in the  January 28, 2019 attack on Rann, Borno State, by Boko Haram.

    “We have now confirmed that this week’s attack on Rann was the deadliest yet by Boko Haram, killing at least 60 people,” Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria said in a statement.

    He added: “using satellite imagery we have also been able to confirm the mass burning of structures as Boko Haram unleashed a massive assault on Rann, most of which is now destroyed.

    “This attack on civilians who have already been displaced by the bloody conflict may amount to possible war crime, and those responsible must be brought to justice.”

    Source: Amnesty International

    He said: “witnesses told us that Nigerian soldiers abandoned their posts the day before the attack, demonstrating the authorities’ utter failure to protect civilians.”

    The terrorists allegedly stormed the town on motorcycles on the fateful day setting houses ablaze and killing those left behind.

    Eleven bodies were found within Rann town, and 49 bodies were found outside.

    Read also: Amnesty Int warns FG against hostility towards journalists

    The human rights group quoted an eyewitness as saying: “Ten of us [Civilian Joint Task Force] came from Cameroon to Rann for the burial. When we arrived, we found and buried 11 corpses within the town, but the soldiers told us that they buried several others yesterday [30 January] who had decayed. Outside the town, we recovered and buried 49 dead bodies all with gunshot wounds.”

    Attempts  to get the army  for comments on the Amnesty International’s account yesterday  did not succeed

  • Amnesty Int’l warns FG against hostility towards journalists

    Amnesty International (AI) has warned the Federal Government about peddling hostility towards journalists.

    The rights group said the government must ensure that journalists and other media professionals can carry out their job and operate without fear of reprisals.

    AI Country Director, Osai Ojigho said that the clampdown by Nigerian authorities on the press, including by raiding media organizations and arbitrarily detaining journalists, is having a chilling effect preventing people from freely expressing themselves.

    Ojigho stated this yesterday in Abuja, at the launch of the freedom of expression campaign titled, “press for freedom”.

    She added that there is an increasing climate of fear across newsrooms in Nigeria as it becomes harder for journalists to do their job.

    Her words, “There is an increasing climate of fear across newsrooms in Nigeria as it becomes harder for journalists to do their job. More and more, the authorities are responding to critical reporting with arrests, raids and intimidation. Journalists are coming under attack in Nigeria, facing increased risks simply for publishing articles and demanding accountability from the authorities. This is totally unacceptable. The authorities must immediately put an end to the hostile environment journalists are facing.

    Read Also: Airstrike kills 16 civilians in Southern Afghanistan

    “We are therefore calling on the Nigerian authorities to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression. Journalists and other media professionals must be free to investigate, report and broadcast on issues of human rights and public interest. Furthermore, the authorities must immediately stop peddling hostility towards them and refrain from attacks against them and silencing dissenting voices. No one should be punished for asking questions or expressing their opinion.

    “Verbal threats, harassment, intimidation, physical assaults, raiding of media houses, arbitrary arrests, and detentions are some of the human rights violations faced by journalists and other media professionals in Nigeria, undermining the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom – and they are on the rise.

    “The Nigerian authorities must ensure that journalists and other media professionals can carry out their job and operate without fear of reprisals. The authorities should uphold the rule of law and respect, protect and fulfil human rights as well as fully implement in practice the Freedom of Information Act (2011).

    “As a result of these attacks and the stifling of press freedom that journalists particularly are facing across the country, we are here today to launch Amnesty International Nigeria’s new campaign on Freedom of Expression.”