Amnesty International is working for Boko Haram and ISWAP – Defence Headquarters

The Defence Headquarters has condemned a recent report released by
Amnesty International (AI) on activities of the Nigerian army in the
North-East region.

Amnesty International who alleged that troops of the Nigerian army
razed down villages and unlawfully detained locals in a rescue
operation, were accused of deliberately supporting the acts of terrorism
perpetrated against Nigeria by the Boko Haram and the Islamic State of
West African State (ISWAP) terror groups.

In a statement released by the Defence Headquarters’ Acting Director
Defence Information Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu,
the non-governmental organization were accused of undermining Nigeria’s
Military campaign against terrorism in the North East.

The statement reads;

“The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has taken cognizance of yet another
falsified report by Amnesty International (AI) in a campaign of calumny
targeting the Nigerian Military and deliberately supporting the callous
acts of terrorism perpetuated by Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) and
Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP).

“This inglorious campaign is contained in a recent report alleging
employment of unlawful tactics of razing down villages and unlawful
detention of locals by troops. This is line with the AIs usual mannerism
and tenacious efforts aimed at disparaging the Armed Forces of Nigeria
(AFN).

“The Defence Headquarters wishes to state unambiguously that the
allegations being touted by AI are nothing but a betrayal of its lack of
in-depth knowledge of the goings-on in the North East (NE) theatre of
operation.

“It is expedient to state that troops of Operation Lafiya Dole who
are conducting Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Operations in
the NE do not employ arson as an operational tactic. It is a well-known
fact, going by the modus operandi of BHTs, that they have more often
than not engaged in the atrocious acts of looting and burning of
villages, as well as destroying infrastructures.

“It therefore, beats ones imagination that AI is attributing these
atrocities to AFN troops who are legitimately defending the country
guided by extant rules of engagement and operational codes of conduct.

“AI must understand the fact that Nigeria is at war against terrorism
in the NE and that the troops have a constitutional mandate to protect
lives and property, even if it means conducting an evacuation to save
and secure lives of civilians in the conflict. Protecting civilians by
evacuating them from the line of fire during combat is not a violation
of the international law of conflict or a war crime.

“It is rather a commendable effort by the troops to prevent
collateral damage during combat. Our troops should therefore be
commended for making deliberate efforts to evacuate civilians in order
to protect their lives and property.

“It is also crucial to point out, that troops deployed to fight
terrorism in the NE do not attack or raze down villages, communities or
settlements, rather they launch offensive on terrorists’ camps, enclaves
and hide outs.

“Based on actionable intelligence, persons who provide logistics and
other forms of support to the terrorists are arrested and subjected to
thorough investigation by a combined team of professionals drawn from
the intelligence community of the Armed Forces and other security
agencies. Anyone not found culpable is not held in custody for further
investigations.

“AI must therefore put an end to its reckless distortion of facts in
its desperate bid to satisfy its puppeteers by undermining Nigeria’s
Military campaign against terrorism in the NE.

“We urge members of the public to please discountenance AIs report,
as it is not a true and realistic reflection of troops’ counter
terrorism operation in the NE”