- says it dampens morale of military in fighting terror
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja declared the operations of Amnesty International in Nigeria appeared to be damaging the morale of soldiers fighting terrorism.
Expressing worries over the role of the organisation on the war against terror in Nigeria, he said its action has created the impression Nigeria was fighting two wars on terror- Boko Haram and Amnesty International.
Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, urged the leadership of the international organization to always scrutinise its advocacy in Nigeria, especially as it relates to the war against terrorism.
The statement reads: “While President Muhammadu Buhari cherishes and encourages the noble ideals on which institutions like Amnesty International are founded, the organisation’s operations in Nigeria seem geared towards damaging the morale of the Nigerian military.
“The Federal Government is increasingly concerned about the role that Amnesty International is playing in the war against terror in Nigeria.
“While President Muhammadu Buhari cherishes and encourages the noble ideals on which institutions like Amnesty International are founded, the organisation’s operations in Nigeria seem geared towards damaging the morale of the Nigerian military.
“It often appears as if the Nigerian government is fighting two wars on terror: against Boko Haram and against Amnesty International.
“The obvious bias and inaccuracies in Amnesty International’s recent country reports on Nigeria risk Amnesty’s reputation as an impartial international organisation.
“President Buhari appeals to the leadership of Amnesty International to scrutinise its advocacy in Nigeria, especially as it relates to the war against terrorism.”
In the report titled, “Harvest of Death: Three Years of Bloody Clashes Between Farmers and Herders’’, Amnesty International found that 57 per cent of the 3,641 recorded deaths occurred in 2018.
The report claimed that “the security forces were often positioned close to the attacks, which lasted hours and sometimes days, yet were slow to act. In some cases, security forces had prior warning of an imminent raid but did nothing to stop or prevent the killings, looting and burning of houses’’.
However, the Nigerian Army had since condemned the report and called for the closure of the Amnesty International offices in Nigeria, alleging there is credible evidence the organisation is working hard to destabilise the country.
Amnesty says over 3,600 killed in Nigeria’s farmer-herder violence
According to the report, violence between farmers and nomadic herders is on the increase in Nigeria over access to fertile land and water, which is becoming scarce in the face of drought and rapid population growth.
It said that of the 310 attacks recorded between January 2016 and October 2018, 57 percent were in 2018 and were most frequent in Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba and Plateau.
The rights group also accused Nigerian security forces of not doing enough to stop the killings.
“Security forces are often positioned close to the attacks, which can sometimes last for days, and yet have been slow to act,” it said.
In some cases, forces were warned of an imminent raid but did nothing to prevent the killings, looting or burning of homes.
“The Nigerian government has displayed what can only be described as gross incompetence and has failed in its duty to protect the lives of its population,” said Osai Ojigho, Nigeria’s director of Amnesty International.
“Our research shows that these attacks were well planned and coordinated, with the use of weapons like machine guns and AK-47 rifles,” Ojigho said.
“In some places, because of the failures of the security forces, competition over resources is used as a pretext to kill and maim along ethnic or religious lines,” she said.
“The conflict has been dangerously politicised by some state government officials who have inflamed tensions by embarking on a blame game along political party lines.”
But the Nigerian army on Monday rejected the Amnesty report, accusing the global watchdog of “unfounded allegations against the leadership of the Nigerian military”.
Army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement that Nigerians should ignore the report which he said was intended to “destabilise and dismember” the country.
“The Nigerian Army has no option than to call for the closure of Amnesty International offices in Nigeria, if such recklessness continues,” he warned.
The farmer-herder violence is putting further pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari, who is battling a nine-year insurgency by the Boko Haram jihadist group in the northeast.
The 76-year-old retired general has come under fire for his inability to end the country’s security challenges as he seeks a second term in February elections.
Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on farmers and loggers in recent months, accusing them of passing information about the group to the military.
In the latest attack, four farmers were shot dead as they slept in rice fields in a village outside the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, survivors and local militia said on Monday.
Last month, the insurgents killed nine farmers and abducted 12 others in Mammanti village, near Maiduguri.
NAN/AFP
