On Monday, the 21st of March 2016, the
Nigerian Defence Headquarters represented by General Abayomi Olonisakin
inaugurated what it called a 12-man committee on human rights. It is not clear
if the Defence Headquarters is acting based on Section-5(1) CAP A20 L.F.N. 2004
or that General Olonisakin is trying to save the life and career of the
never-retiring Lt.-Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai who will end up at the prison yard,
courtesy of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, just like his
Commander-in-Chief, Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari would soon go to
jail as well in The Hague for human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings.
During the inauguration of the so-called human rights committee, General
Olonisakin noted that “each member of the committee was invited to look into the
complaints of human rights abuses leveled against the military” and “urged the
committee to expand their focus beyond the North East, to also include other
areas of contention including the issues emanating from clashes with the
Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and
Rivers State election rerun amongst others.”
General Olonisakin also stated that the
Armed Forces of Nigeria is “always guided by global best practices, Rules of
Engagement (ROE) for military operations other than war as well as Codes of
Conduct for internal security operations.” On the other hand, he warned that
the Armed Forces “would not sacrifice professionalism on the platter of
lawlessness or extra-judicial conducts of anybody or groups.” The terms
of reference of this committee include “collation and documentation of written
complaints, as well as investigation of all the alleged rights violations,
interface with human rights bodies, recommend appropriate sanctions where
necessary and advice generally on modalities to curtail violations of human
rights by troops.”
It is very laughable that the
so-called committee on human rights which was meant exclusively for the
North-East of Nigeria was suddenly given the mandate to operate elsewhere in
Nigeria as a face-saving measure to divert the attention of the public and the
ICC from the upcoming criminal prosecution of Lt-Gen Buratai, Muhammadu Buhari,
Solomon Ehigiator Arase, and other accomplices to the massacre of defenceless
Biafrans which started seven weeks after the swearing-in of Buhari as Nigeria’s
president. Is it possible for General Olonisakin to point at any report in the
public domain from any committee that was set up to probe any of the killings
in Biafraland? In 2013, some committees were set up by the Senate and the NBA
to investigate the mass murder of Biafrans and dumping of their bodies in Ezzu
River but the committees‘ reports were never made public. Even former Governor
Peter Obi’s Ezzu River Autopsy Report is still hidden in government house at
Awka.
On the other hand, how can the military
be investigating crimes committed by itself and expect to get useful outcomes,
in addition to the fact that this committee is not headed by a reputable Judge
but rather the committee is mainly an assortment of retired and retarded
members of Nigerian military? How can a murderer investigate his own
crime? This is another waste of public funds in a country where the average
citizen lives on less than half-dollar in a day.
Instead of spending so much money on
logistics and other related expenses on this committee, we STRONGLY
advice the Defence Headquarters to use this money to hire a formidable defence
attorney who will defend them at the upcoming court case at the ICC. Perhaps,
the attorney may be able to reduce by a few years, the imminent long jail terms
for Buratai et al. Therefore the public should not be deceived by the
red-herring strategy of General Olonisakin and his cohorts because Buratai and
his co-murderers are prison-bound irrespective of the so-called committee on
human rights.
This committee is nothing but a deceit and a charade!!!
Signed
Barrister Emma
Nmezu
Spokesperson for
IPOB
Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka
Iroanya
Spokesperson for IPOB
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