Nigerian Army Threatening Us, Amnesty International Cries Out
The Amnesty International has raised an alarm over the threats and intimidations the human right activist organization is suffering from the Nigerian military over its published reports that indicts Army of raping female Internally Displaced Persons in North-east.
After the organization published report in May 24 that the Nigerian Army and Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) were sexually-abusing the IDPs, the military refuted the allegation and regarded the international organization “enemies” of the country.
AI, however said it’s not discouraged from ensuring that rights of citizens are protected despite the threats.
“Threats from the military won’t deter us from defending human rights”, AI established.
“We are bringing the attention of all to the fact that the Nigerian military is increasingly resorting to threats, intimidation and smears to discredit our work – documenting the human rights violations it has committed.
According to standard practice, all Amnesty International’s reports on human rights violations in Nigeria call for investigations into the allegations they contain, but the Nigerian military has repeatedly responded instead with smear campaigns, intimidation, and threats”, Isa Sanusi, the organisation’s spokesperson said today in his statement.
The organization also criticized the objection of Nigerian Army to their report which was thoroughly investigated.
“Accusing us of undermining the military is a shameless diversionary attempt to avoid investigating the accounts of human rights violations which have been presented in our reports.
“Nigerian military’s response to our reports always focused on attacking us instead of addressing the issues raised. These attacks clearly show they have not read our reports”, Sanusi stated.
On the report, AI vindicated himself stating that it sought the opinion of the concerned security agencies before publishing but they failed to respond accordingly.
“We always share the findings of our investigations with the Nigerian military before publication. We ask detailed questions to ensure the military can provide its side of the story, but in all cases the military has completely ignored these attempts to engage.
“Despite the military’s best efforts, we will not stay silent. In the face of efforts to evade responsibility or to smear our organization, we will continue to raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustice, sexual abuse or any form of discrimination”, the statement from AI mentioned.
“We shall continue to call on the Nigerian government to use its authority and resources to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including of rape, torture, arbitrary detentions and unlawful killings, to ensure justice”, AI ended.
