From: Linus Oota, Lafia
Executive Secretary, African Arise for Change Network, Stella Okoli, has described the Amnesty International’s report on the Nigerian military fight against Boko Haram extremists as an attempt to blackmail the military.
The group also dismissed the report which aimed to stir discontent within the ranks of the Nigerian military in other to jeopardise the war against terrorism as prelude to expediting nationwide system collapse.
Addressing the media in Abuja, Okoli said Amnesty International’s report was mainly a compilation of unsubstantiated allegations, noting that the professional manner in which the military handled the war against terrorism in the nation was commendable.
She said the organisation’s attempt to blackmail the Nigerian security agencies has further incite citizens against the state, noting that it is not surprising that an already defeated Boko Haram terrorists have resurfaced and escalated its attack coinciding with the release of the amnesty report.
According to her, “The recent attacks being launched on military positions by Boko Haram vindicate our position as a civil society that Amnesty International is out to embolden terrorists to attack the Nigerian state and its citizenry.
“What Nigeria requires at the moment is a permanent solution to the humanitarian crisis fueled by the likes of Amnesty International in the north east of the country. Nigerians will not hesitate to adopt home grown solutions to salvage the situation if the world chooses to believe a compromised entity like Amnesty International over brave people that toil and sacrifice daily to correct the mess created from abroad.”
The group Secretary said Amnesty reports attempts to protect violent groups like IMN, IPOB, MASSOB, Armed robbers as well as Boko Haram terrorists.
She said the reports by AI are meant to incite the citizens against themselves in the hope that Nigeria can through this process become a failed state or a nation in intractable crisis.
“The world’s most deadly terrorist group that has displaced millions of people, killed several thousands and destroyed an entire region. These terrorists abduct and rape children who they then sell off as child-brides while converting the males into child-fighters. Since the fall of their last camp in Sambisa Forest they have turned ten year olds into suicide bombers and also force women with babies strapped on their backs to carry out suicide bombings.
“The group’s original goal was to deny all other Nigerians the right to freedom of religion through the forced implementation of Sharia across board. Amnesty International is campaigning for the killers in this group to be invited for talks over sumptuous lunch as pre-condition to issue a certificate that they have been treated humanely.
“The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), a fanatical militarized Islamic group that the Kaduna state government had to outlaw after its violent confrontation with the military left several persons dead, also enjoys the patronage of Amnesty International.”
She described officers and soldiers of the Nigerian military as true heroes, assuring that no amount of blackmail should deter them from saving the country from separatist and insurgents who thought Nigeria is a conquered territory.