The reaction of the military is diversionary and an attempt to prevent the continued probe of the excesses of the soldiers who allegedly engage in sexual violence against girls and women in Internally Displaced Persons camps in the North East.
Amnesty International made this declaration in a statement.
In its report published recently, Amnesty International had accused soldiers of raping women and exploiting them in various forms.
But the military which claimed to have conducted a thorough investigation into the case denied any wrongdoing by soldiers.
It accused Amnesty International of deliberately issuing reports to indict the soldiers as a means of frustrating the ongoing efforts to stop insurgency in the country.
It warned Amnesty International to desist from continued attacks on the military saying it would not hesitate to deal with it.
In reaction to the threat by the military, Amnesty International, in a statement by its spokesman, Isa Sanusi, declared that it would not hesitate to raise alarm where necessary.
“These diversionary tactics are a shameless attempt to avoid investigating the accounts of human rights violations which have been presented by Amnesty. The statements by the Nigerian military clearly show that they have not read our reports.
“Rather than taking action to address the issues raised in this report, like investigating countless allegations of rape and other war crimes, the Nigerian military has fallen back on its usual hostile tactics of denials and threats,” Osai Ojigho, country director of the human rights group was quoted to have said.
He said efforts by Amnesty International to get the military’s side of the story had proved abortive.
His words: “We ask detailed questions to ensure the military can provide its side of the story, but in all cases the military has either completely ignored these attempts to engage, or referred us to other arms of government, in a clear attempt to evade our questions.”
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The statement reads further: “The decision by the Senate of the National Assembly to probe allegations raised in ‘They Betrayed Us’ is a welcome development, and a sign of hope for victims seeking justice.
“The diversionary tactics are a shameless attempt to avoid investigating the accounts of human rights violations which have been presented by Amnesty. The statements by the Nigerian military clearly show that they have not read our reports.
“For example, while our recent report was based on remote satellite camps in places like Bama and Banki, the military took journalists to the wrong camps in Maiduguri in their attempts to prove us wrong.
“Amnesty International is a human rights organisation and not a prosecuting agency – its role is to hold governments to their obligations to respect and protect human rights, and to ensure that anyone whose rights are violated has an effective remedy.
“That is why the organisation continues to call on the Nigerian government to use its authority and resources to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including of rape, torture, arbitrary detentions and unlawful killings, to ensure reparation for the victims, to hold the perpetrators accountable, and to ensure non-repetition of the violations.
“Despite the military’s best efforts, we will not stay silent. In the face of efforts to evade responsibility or to smear our organisation, we will continue to raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustice, sexual abuse, discrimination against women, or any other violations of human rights in Nigeria.”
