AI: ‘Boko Haram sympathisers taking advantage of humanitarian crisis’

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution in Nigeria, a global human rights organisation, has reacted to the recent report released by the Amnesty International, accusing the Nigerian security forces of raping and starving Internally Displaced Persons (IPDs) to death in northern parts of the country.

AI had, in a new report released on Thursday last week, entitled “They betrayed us”detailed how the Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF) allegedly separated women from their husbands andconfined them in remote ‘satellite camps’ where they had been raped, sometimes in exchange for food.

However, the Coalition in a report termed “Tainted Spring,” stated that “it is evident that some political Boko Haram persons are taking advantage of the on-going unrest in the North-east.”

Its executive director, Maxwell Gowon, at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, said the report was targeted at “heating up the olity and as well as rubbishing the Nigerian security forces, especially the military that is carrying a good job.”

He said: “This particular one in question has been begging for egitimacy after it was exposed that Amnesty International and the UNICEF were paying journalists and NGOs to compile fictitious reportsagainst the Nigerian military and other stakeholders fighting errorism in Nigeria. What these organisations stand to achieve is still what the Coalition is yet to come to terms with.

“We want to unequivocally state from our findings and investigations that Amnesty International’s monitoring of human rights situation particularly in the North-east is not fact based and rely heavily on testimonies that appear not too far removed from fiction. Its reports do not lend themselves to follow-ups because it is impossible to contact its so-called witnesses for verification. Even when there is no clear evidence that access to them would place them in harm’s way, the NGO keeps all the subjects of its reports unanimous.”

Continuing, he said: “The legitimate operation of the military is constantly hampered by Amnesty International’s misleading reports. This has grave consequences for the overall security architecture of Nigeria especially now that some key players in the political terrain have started providing local funding to supplement the foreign clients of Amnesty International with a view to impacting the 2019 general Elections.

The group urged the federal government to work with the military to fashion a long-term containment measure for attenuating the damages that Amnesty International’s activities in Nigeria are causing.

“There is a need for IDPs camps in the north east to be closed and citizens relocated back to their various communities since political Boko Haram is taking advantage of the humanitarian crisis to introduce a mutant strain of Boko Haram in the camps.

“Amnesty International has lost the moral right to continue monitoring human rights issues and conflict in Nigeria should be so informed.”

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