The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has reacted to a report by the Amnesty International, AI, titled, “Nigerian Military Crimes”, saying it is obviously desperate to incriminate the Nigerian military.
Major General John Enenche, its Coordinator of Defence Media Operations, (CDMO, said in a statement that “the attention of the Nigerian Military has been drawn to the recent report released by Amnesty International (AI) in its chapter 3 as “Nigerian Military Crimes”.
“In the first place, the so-called research does not meet the universal academic or global best practice criteria, of having the justifiable percentage of sample in the population, claimed to have been investigated and thus may not be credible.
“For the entire so called research, the question is, to whom is the loyalty of the respondents selected by AI; Boko Haram or peace loving Borno citizens?
“However, it is desirable in the interest of the general public to bring out some contradictions in the report that tends to criminalize the Nigerian Military which is not true”, the DHQ stated.
It drew attention to page 34 of the report which it said, stated that, “AI interviewed only a few older people who had fled Boko Haram areas during 2020, so was unable to determine if there had been changes in the Military’s behavior over the last year”, worrying over the inability of AI to determine the Military ’s behavior in its report.
“Additionally, in the said report, the AI claimed that Soldiers killed older people, among others who were trying to flee from their homes. This accusation is also baseless as the Military is guided by extant regulations and Rules of Engagement”, it said.
The DHQ alleged that AI also admitted on page 36 of its report that “during previous Amnesty International research, some former detainees, including children, admitted openly that they had been in the armed group – sometimes through recruitment and other times through abduction. AI cannot rule out that older people interviewed for this report at times supported Boko Haram”, stressing that this buttressed the fact that the Military would, and cannot detain civilians unlawfully.
“In recent years, Soldiers and CJTF members involved in ‘screening” have sent fewer older people, among other groups to detention”, observing also that, “Conditions have improved in recent years, especially as the Red Cross received more access to some military detention facilities, including GIWA”.
The DHQ observed that the report which held that, “ In recent years, soldiers have increasingly refrained from detaining older people fleeing Boko Haram controlled areas”, were obvious contradictions to the portrayal of the Nigerian Military by AI.
“As such, it is a deliberate attempt to discredit the Nigerian Military in the fight against insurgency and terrorism in the North East which should be resisted.
“Nigerians should be assured that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will not be deterred in the fight to rid the country of terrorists and criminals in the country despite the allegations.
“The report is clear desperation targeted at blackmailing the Nigerian Military. Thus, the report should be discountenanced”, the DHQ averred.
