From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
An advocacy group, Save Humanity Advocacy Centre (SHAC), has cautioned Amnesty International and other NGOs in the country against attempts to distract and undermine the troops on the frontline.
The group described the allegation of excessive use of force by security agents in the South East as another scheme targeted at dampening the morale of security personnel helping to restore sanity across the country.
The group made this known at a press conference on Monday in Abuja to address the systematic attack on the Armed Forces’ efforts in addressing the security challenges in the country.
Paul Ikyado, the Executive Director of the SHAC, said that the rights group have consistently displayed deep-seated anger against the security agencies in Nigeria for inexplicable reasons.
Ikyado noted that in the past, this has given insurgents and other criminal elements the impetus to further carry out deadly attacks on innocent Nigerians, including women and children in the North East
The group wondered why the heinous crimes committed by the Eastern Security Network, the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra has been overlooked by the rights group.
The SHAC warned Amnesty International that further acts of sabotage against troops will not be tolerated.
It further charged the leadership of the various security agencies in the country to continue to give their best in this critical point by not succumbing to the cheap blackmail perpetrated by Amnesty
The centre advised Amnesty International to be circumspect in its public outings and retrace its steps, calling a spade a spade and not taking sides with terrorists and criminal groups under the guise of human rights advocates.
Amnesty International has consistently displayed deep-seated anger against the security agencies in Nigeria for inexplicable reasons. It is on record that Amnesty International, over the years, have engaged in acts that undermine national security in Nigeria and the efforts of the security agencies in addressing the security challenges in the country.
This act is worrisome because whenever the security agencies are recording gains in the fight against insurgency and other acts of criminalities, Amnesty International would come up with trumped-up allegations that aim to cause a distraction for the security agencies.
The recent press statement alleged that the security agencies employed excessive force in South East Nigeria. This is an example of the ignoble role of Amnesty International in festering conflict in Nigeria.
This trend has in times past given insurgents and other criminal elements the impetus to further carry out deadly attacks on innocent Nigerians, including women and children in North East Nigeria and other parts of the country.
The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre frowns at such disposition from an organisation that claims to be advocating for respect for human rights across the globe, whereas it has been covertly providing intellectual support for terrorist groups and fueling conflict in countries where they operate.
This recent case is indeed an assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians and a systematic attack on the Armed Forces’ efforts in addressing the security challenges in the country. This is indeed condemnable and an act of terrorism in itself.
The Save Humanity Advocacy Centre is indeed alarmed that Amnesty International could issue such a statement accusing the Armed Forces of using excessive force in its operations to rid South East Nigeria of criminal elements.
The tactic support for the Eastern Security Network by Amnesty International leaves a lot to the imagination in the sense that they have either by commission or omission refused to condemn the atrocities perpetrated by this group of an armed militia group, whose activities have resulted in arson, looting, and destruction of government infrastructures in some states in South East Nigeria.
Amnesty International has also feigned ignorance to the heinous crimes committed by the Eastern Security Network, the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and tactically given their support for the rise of militancy and insurrection in Nigeria.
Amnesty International is quick to assert ‘human rights violations and crimes under international law in Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi and Abia state from January 2021,’ but it is blind to the burning down of police stations, courts, killing of security agents, and attack on government properties by members of the Eastern Security Network.
This is indeed conceivable and a reason for the generality of Nigerians to see through the veiled deceit in the activities of Amnesty International in Nigeria over the years.