War crime: Amnesty International accused of planting fictitious stories against Nigerian military

 

A human rights body, Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Nigeria, has accused Amnesty International of planting fictitious stories against the Nigerian military.

Recall that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had in a report released on Monday, claimed that Nigerian Security Forces (NSF) have committed war crimes against humanity.

The ICC report claimed it had received “a total of 169 communications” from Nigeria and its assessment has shown that security forces in Nigeria have committed war crimes varying from murder, torture, and intentionally attacking the civilian population.

However, the Army dismissed the allegations, describing it as a figment of the writer’s imagination.

Speaking on the development, the body accused the Amnesty International of planting the report to cause confusion in Nigeria and as well rubbish the efforts of the Nigerian military.

Onuoha G.C Esq, Executive Director of the coalition at a press conference on Wednesday, dared the organization to present the kind of evidence it claims to have before the ICC so that the world would see if they would stand up to scrutiny.

He said, “In recent days, we have observed the intensification of a campaign of calumny being run by foreign NGO, Amnesty International against the Nigerian Military.

“The main talking points of the renewed campaign are: “Nigerian Military has committed and is committing human right abuses. Nigerian military is shielding terrorists.

“These are false claims that have been made repeatedly in the past to an extent that right thinking people have learnt to not set stock in them. If Amnesty International has the kind of evidence it claims to have the natural order of things would have been for it to present them before the ICC so that the world would see if these claims would stand up to scrutiny.

“What is playing out however is for the same old hogwash of launching this kind of propaganda each time the Nigerian Military is making gains against Boko Haram terrorists or any other group that is troubling the Nigerian state.

“For a few weeks in the last quarter of this year, Boko Haram terrorists, with some unknown internationally injected support, attacked several military outposts and caused casualties in some instances yet there was no whimper from Amnesty International to call for international outrage against the killings.

“We advise Amnesty International to focus on what it needs to do, which is to make atonement in all the countries of the world where it has sowed the kind of discord it is trying to sow in Nigeria.

“It has been in the business of lying against armies that stand against terrorists while doing everything to shield the terrorists from retribution. It is no wonder that even the NGO is a victim of its own evil enterprise.”