Nigerian Army reacts to Amnesty International's indicting report | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Friday 19 June 2015

Nigerian Army reacts to Amnesty International's indicting report

Press statement from the Nigerian Army released on their website today...
The media has been inundated with reports of Amnesty International allegations of gross human rights abuse and extra judicial killing of civilians against the Nigerian military for the past few days. Amnesty International report was released on 3 June 2015. 
Therefore, the Nigerian Military as a responsible corporate organization is bound to respond to these allegations in order to put the records in proper perspective.
For the avoidance of doubts, the Amnesty International allegations of human rights abuse and extra judicial killing of civilians are a rehash of the same allegations made against the military since 2011.

No new facts have been unearthed by Amnesty International to warrant their repeated allegations. However, the figures adduced by Amnesty International as victims of extra judicial killing by the military have kept on increasing from 4,600 to 8,000 and even as high as 13,000 civilians.

The military has the constitutional and moral responsibility to protect Nigerian citizens and cannot suddenly engage in mass murder as portrayed by Amnesty International allegations. It will be recalled that upon the written request from Amnesty International to the military to comment on the allegations, the military promptly commenced investigations into the allegations. Consequently, several investigations on these allegations are ongoing. Some investigations 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 2 Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) to investigate, screen and categorize suspected insurgents in detention. Out of the 504 suspects screened prima facie cases was established against 350 suspects and were recommended for trial the Federal High Court, their case files were forwarded to the office of the attorney- general and ministry of justice.

Additionally, 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 Committeeof the Red Cross on training of personnel on laws of armed conflict and humanitarian law regularly.

The preliminary investigation reports submitted 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 Government on 8th November 2014 respectively. You may recall that the released persons were assisted with a token financial assistant of N100,000.00 each by the military.

The living condition of the detainees was improved upon with the decongestion of holding facilities. The Nigerian Senate and the National Human Rights Commission have also conducted independent investigations on allegations of human rights violation against the Nigerian Military. It is worthy to note that Human Rights Watch on some occasions had to recant its allegations of human rights abuses by the Nigerian military after thorough investigations.

The military requested Amnesty International to provide a member for the investigation panel to look into the allegations but the invitation was not honored byAmnesty International. 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 office of Attorney General of the Federation was also carried along in all the investigations.

The military is still conducting investigations on Amnesty International allegations. In the course of forensic investigations, the withdrawal of troops from the frontline for investigation tends to dampen the morale of soldiers and distract ongoing operations against insurgents. This is one reason why the understanding of Amnesty Internationalwould be worth the while. Amnesty International wrote a 5 Point questionnaire to the Nigerian Military in November 2014 alleged extra judicial killing of some group of people by the military.

The Military responded to the 5 point questionnaire immediately and in December, precisely 23 December 2014. Amnesty International sent another 37 point questionnaire to the Nigerian Military which was answered, e-mail and hard copy was delivered to Amnesty International Headquarters in London on 23 December 2014. If the military had anything to hide it would not have responded to the 37 questions and others especially in the light of the constraints of timing.

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. I appeal to Amnesty International to be patient to see the outcome of the investigation.

While it took Amnesty International from 2011 – 2015 to chronicletheir allegations, they want the Nigerian Military to investigate and report immediately. The investigation is on-going, Nigerians and the world at large will certainly be informed of the outcome at the end of the investigation. For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigerian Military has zero tolerance for Human Rights abuses, extra judicial killings and acts perceived to be war crimes.

The Nigerian military is a conventional and professional military that is driven by international standards and best practices. Indeed, the Nigerian military is open to genuine criticisms and allegations but it requires time and patience to report back. It is in this spirit that Amnesty Internationaland any other interested party are encouraged to exercise necessary restraint and patience while awaiting the outcome of ongoing investigations.
Thank you.

26 comments:

Davido's driver said...

Noted!

Davido's driver said...

Hmmm

Unknown said...

Sips burukutu

Unknown said...

Is dat a Project work pls???
* * * Linda's 1st Daughter * * *

selena said...

Amnesty International....

Unknown said...

Linda abeg I'm hungry. I can't read this right now.

I'm out. ***CATCH ME IF U CAN***

Unknown said...

I wil read dis later...


@G Sarki (He is an ardent LIB reader base in Kaduna), my appreciation goes 2u for liking my comments on LIB. God abundantly bless u, and everytin dat concerns u. Thumbs up to u, and more power to ur elbows.

To all our muslim brothers, and sisters on LIB, I pray all ur heart desires come to pass during dis period of Ramadhan.

Long live Linda Ikeji, and all LIB reader's.

Unknown said...

What took dem so long to respond??? Linda take note!




Okiie, notice to all LIBERs. Didn't want to do dis before but I gex I just have to do it as a disclaimer. One idiot on dis blog stole my identity, my name & signage. So please any negative comments on dis blog is not coming from me but from the thief cos I would neva say anything bad about someone or wish anyone evil. So I have gone back to using my old pix & my email address is (julie3er@gmail.com). Linda take note!

MADE IN NIGERIA said...

Too long pls....can someone summarize?

I B M bolubantin said...

Let the truth prevail

Divinelyfavored said...

International indeed

Unknown said...

After reading dis post, I wil say d same tin which is bunch of story tales they r dishing out to us.
They wil alwaz defend themsef, and never admit any truth even if its truth.



@G Sarki (He is an ardent LIB reader base in Kaduna), my appreciation goes 2u for liking my comments on LIB. God abundantly bless u, and everytin dat concerns u. Thumbs up to u, and more power to ur elbows.

To all our muslim brothers, and sisters on LIB, I pray all ur heart desires come to pass during dis period of Ramadhan.

Long live Linda Ikeji, and all LIB reader's.

Unknown said...

a.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said..
.
Oky seen....
.
.
***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***

Unknown said...

Waiting for the outcome of the investigation then.

Unknown said...

If boko haram kill Nigerians no human right abuse, but if we soldiers kill boko boys na human rights abuse. Mtcheeeew make dem dose hypocrite pack well joor

Anonymous said...

Now whom do we believe. ( no b this same army talk say PMB certificate loss? After election the thing come appear?) hmmm

Anonymous said...

Just imagine! The DHQ is now sounding responsibly as it's now dawned on them that there's no getting away with AI's report irrespective of their initial abrassive response to the allegations from AI. The DHQ is now trying hard to convince the world that the Nigerian military operate professionally and respects human right tenets in dischage of its duties. They've forgotten that the world still remembers how millions of Igbos were brutally massacred in series of premeditated genocide during the civil war (1967 -1970). Even, then the Nigerian military was slammed with arms embargo, and looked towards Russia for their arms supply. This same scenario is what has been playing out again in the NE in the war against the insurgents, Boko haram. Whether rebels (as in Biafran army) or insurgents (as in Boko haram), the Nigerian military has always had a culture of operating in blunt disregard to human rights and standard rule of engagement as stipulated by the geneva convention.
Now that Buhari claims to be a democrat and respects the rule of law, it's high time to change and possibly overhaul the Nigerian military accordingly.

Unknown said...

We hope the military is telling the truth as we all know there's no smoke without fire

Anonymous said...

Oyelakin Riliwan, I don't think you will be quite as happy for them to kill Boko Haram if your brother lived in Borno state and you got a message that the army were killing Boko Haram members and killed your brother because without any proof they assumed he was a boko haram member. If that happens, you will change your mouth and insist all suspected members captured alive should be taken to trial!!!

Anonymous said...

Its well

Jasmine Joseph said...

Abeg d story too long wetin. BTW Linda I really need emojis on dis ur comment page if possible. There are some comments only emojis can best express

Anonymous said...

Where was AI when U.S. And and nATO were killing Iraqis in fake war of oil. When it comes to poorer countries they can bully they will have power. When Boko commit mass murder they whisper but when it comes to military dem get mouth. Attention seeking AI.

Mabadee.blogspot.com said...

Let me put it to you sir, the army are doing their job, the so called by boys are also civilians there, the civilians there are joining them, so Wat are the army meant to do....

Mabadee.blogspot.com said...

Let me tell you the truth they don't kill civilians except those that join the sect, after all boko harm are obviously former civilians of Nigeria

Hmmmm! said...

America killed Osama bin Laden and co AI didn't want them probed...F..k AI for using different laws for different continents

Unknown said...

Minna.

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