Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has cautioned the Nigerian Army to avoid any face-off with the Amnesty International, appealing to its personnel to exercise patience with the organisation rather than asking it to close its office.
This was even as the HURIWA had suggested to the military to carefully scrutinise the report of Amnesty International and possibly adopt some recommendations capable of promoting the image of the force.
HURIWA chairman, Emmanuel Onwubiko, who made the appeal, on Wednesday, at a press briefing, in Abuja, also urged to Amnesty International to tread carefully in order not to plunge the country into chaos.
According to Onwubiko, “We appeal to the military to exercise a little patience with civil society organisations like Amnesty International, because they are very credible.
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“It is not the kind of organisation that will want to pull off the roof on our heads.
“So, many people that work with Amnesty International in Nigeria are all citizens of the country and they are very credible. Their method of recruitment is very transparent.
“However, we want to appeal to them to also exercise the highest level of restraint.
“Nobody is stopping them from documenting their observations if there are human rights violations.”
Onwubiko also condemned the alleged move by the government to release Boko Haram suspects, adding that could instigate others to toe the path of committing crimes without qualms.
“We absolutely condemn the Nigerian government decision to release Boko Haram suspects caught while the war was going on.
“You don’t catch people who have committed atrocities and think you are going to rehabilitate them when atrocities committed against humanity have not been probed.
“They should atone for their crimes to serve as a deterrent to others,” he stated.
