Military: Amnesty Bullying Nigeria, Pursuing Agenda

Constant allegations dampen troops’ morale

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja The Military has accused Amnesty International (AI) of trying to bully Nigerian security agencies and personnel towards a premeditated

goal and expressed concern about what it describes as reckless and baseless allegations of war crimes, “which affects the morale of troops, especially those involved in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the North-east.

The Chief of Administration, Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen. Adamu Baba Abubakar, stated this yesterday on behalf the Nigerian Armed Forces, during a press briefing at Army Headquarters, Abuja.

Abubakar noted that “while it took Amnesty International from 2011 – 2015 to chronicle their allegations, they want the Nigerian Military to investigate and report immediately”.

He insisted that the global human rights watchdog had already a pre-determined outcome and that is why much of the allegations contained in the June 3, 2015 report were a repetition of earlier allegations with only figures of casualty arbitrarily fixed.

The Army Chief said AI had deployed different but persistent acts of blackmail and dictatorship to harass the military into doing things according to its own tailor-made procedure, while ignoring the fact that the Armed Forces have its own internal mechanism of addressing the issues raised.

He wondered why the human rights body had consistently refused to cooperate with the military in the quest to investigate alleged atrocities as it had consistently refused to send representatives to participate in such investigations.

“The military requested Amnesty International to provide a member for the investigation panel to look into the allegations but the invitation was not honoured. The essence of offering Amnesty International membership of the investigation panel was to guarantee fairness and justice while proving to the world that the military has nothing to hide or cover up.

“The Nigerian Military has also allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the detainees and other location at the shortest notice without hindrance and even talk to the detainees and locals. Certainly, if the Nigerian Military has or had any reason to hide anything, it could not have allowed International Committee of the Red Cross access to its facilities and operational area,” he said.

Abubakar disclosed that preliminary reports of panels set up to look into the body’s allegations have resulted in the release of some under aged detainees, women and children from some military holding facilities.

“Sequel to the report of the investigation panel, 42 detainees were handed over to Borno State government on Thursday 6th November 2014 and another set of 124 persons were also handed over to the state’s government on 8th November 2014 respectively," he said.

Upon release from detention, he added, the individuals were each given the sum of N100,000 to begin their lives again by the military while the living condition of the detainees was improved upon with the decongestion of holding facilities.

The Chief of Administration also recalled that following written request from AI to the military to comment on the allegations, the military promptly commenced investigations.

He said: “Some investigators have turned in their preliminary reports which have been acted upon. Some of the investigations could not be concluded due to the inaccessibility of the terrain due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists.

“Similarly, the Defence Headquarters set up two Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) to investigate, screen and categorise suspected insurgents in detention. Out of the 504 suspects screened prima facie cases was established against 350 suspects and were recommended for trial at the Federal High Court, their case files were forwarded to the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.

“The Code of Conduct for troops in the North-east and other Internal Operations and Rules of Engagement clearly spelt out guidelines for troops.

“Therefore, the Nigerian Military does not in any way condone indiscipline or breach of such regulations, let alone wanton killing or destruction. The Nigerian Military collaborate with the International Committee of the Red Cross on training of personnel on laws of armed conflict and humanitarian law regularly.”