Nigerian Army reacts to Amnesty International's indicting report
Amnesty
International said today Friday June 10th that Nigerian army last month killed at
least 17 unarmed members of a group calling for secession, but the military dismissed the allegations as
unfounded. An army spokesman
said the International Organisation's accusations, the latest in a series of allegations of
impropriety leveled against Nigeria's military in the last year,
revealed a bias that undermined its credibility. The full statement after the cut..
2. It should be noted that the Non-governmental
organization has always been of the habit of being the judge and jury in
matters of our national security without recourse to fairness,
objectivity, all aimed at rubbishing the Nigerian Army for reasons best
known to them. This could not be far from trying albeit unsuccessfully
to be relevant and justify funding.
3. For the avoidance of
doubt, what transpired that fateful day was that some elements of
MASSOB/IPOB engaged in violent protests which led to outright breakdown
of law and order. The pro-Biafra protesters who had chosen the day to
mark the 50th Anniversary of Biafra perpetrated a number of unimaginable
atrocities to unhinge the reign of peace, security and stability in
several parts of Anambra State.
4. A number of persons were
selected for attack, killed and burnt. Two personnel of the Nigeria
Police were killed, several soldiers were wounded, a Nigeria Police
vehicle was completely burnt down while another of the Nigerian Army was
vandalized. The strategic Niger Bridge at Onitsha was at the verge of
being captured particularly with the coordinated reinforcement of the
violent protesters from the Asaba end of the Bridge. In addition,
wanton destruction of lives and properties were brazenly carried out by
the protesters who employed firearms, crude weapons as well as other
volatile cocktails such as acid and dynamites. In consequence, law,
order and security were grossly threatened across the State and beyond.
5. The Nigerian Army in synergy with other security agencies under its
constitutional mandates for Military Aid to Civil Authority (MACA) and
Military Aid to Civil Power (MACP) acted responsively in order to
de-escalate the deteriorating security situation. Instructively, the
military and other security agencies exercised maximum restraints
against the odds of provocative and inexplicable violence that were
employed against them by the pro-Biafra protesters. The military and of
course the other security agencies acted professionally within the
extant Rules of Engagement to successfully de-escalate the budding
anarchy.
6.It is rather inconceivable for any individual or
group to have decided to inundate the general public with an anecdote of
unverified narratives in order to discredit the Nigerian Army in the
course of carrying out its constitutional duties despite the
premeditated and unprovoked attacks in the hands of the violent
pro-Biafra mob as Amnesty International is determined to do.
7. Thank you for your usual cooperation.
HA GAMBO
Colonel
Deputy Director Army Public Relations
82 Division Nigerian Army
Colonel
Deputy Director Army Public Relations
82 Division Nigerian Army
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