<blockquote>The Defence Headquarters has condemned a<br>recent report released by Amnesty<br>International (AI) on activities of the Nigerian<br>army in the North-East region.<br><br>Amnesty International who alleged that<br>troops of the Nigerian army razed<br>down villages and unlawfully detained locals<br>in a rescue operation, were accused of<br>deliberately supporting the acts of terrorism<br>perpetrated against Nigeria by the Boko<br>Haram and the Islamic State of West African<br>State (ISWAP) terror groups.<br><br>In a statement released by the Defence<br>Headquarters' Acting Director Defence<br>Information Brigadier General Onyema<br>Nwachukwu, the non-governmental<br>organization were accused of undermining<br>Nigerias Military campaign against terrorism<br>in the North East.<br><br><b>The statement reads;</b><br>The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has<br>taken cognizance of yet another<br>falsified report by Amnesty<br>International (AI) in a campaign of<br>calumny targeting the Nigerian<br>Military and deliberately supporting<br>the callous acts of terrorism<br>perpetuated by Boko Haram Terrorists<br>(BHTs) and Islamic State of West<br>African Province (ISWAP).<br><br>This inglorious campaign is contained<br>in a recent report alleging<br>employment of unlawful tactics of<br>razing down villages and unlawful<br>detention of locals by troops. This is<br>line with the AIs usual mannerism and<br>tenacious efforts aimed at disparaging<br>the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN).<br><br>The Defence Headquarters wishes to<br>state unambiguously that the<br>allegations being touted by AI are<br>nothing but a betrayal of its lack of<br>in-depth knowledge of the goings-on<br>in the North East (NE) theatre of<br>operation.<br><br>It is expedient to state that troops of<br>Operation Lafiya Dole who are<br>conducting Counter Terrorism and<br>Counter Insurgency Operations in the<br>NE do not employ arson as an<br>operational tactic. It is a well-known<br>fact, going by the modus operandi of<br>BHTs, that they have more often than<br>not engaged in the atrocious acts of<br>looting and burning of villages, as well<br>as destroying infrastructures.<br><br>It therefore, beats ones imagination<br>that AI is attributing these atrocities to<br>AFN troops who are legitimately<br>defending the country guided by<br>extant rules of engagement and<br>operational codes of conduct.<br><br>AI must understand the fact that<br>Nigeria is at war against terrorism in<br>the NE and that the troops have a<br>constitutional mandate to protect lives<br>and property, even if it means<br>conducting an evacuation to save and<br>secure lives of civilians in the conflict.<br>Protecting civilians by evacuating them<br>from the line of fire during combat is<br>not a violation of the international law<br>of conflict or a war crime.<br><br>It is rather a commendable effort by<br>the troops to prevent collateral<br>damage during combat. Our troops<br>should therefore be commended for<br>making deliberate efforts to evacuate<br>civilians in order to protect their lives<br>and property.<br><br>It is also crucial to point out, that<br>troops deployed to fight terrorism in<br>the NE do not attack or raze down<br>villages, communities or settlements,<br>rather they launch offensive on<br>terrorists camps, enclaves and hide<br>outs.<br><br>Based on actionable intelligence,<br>persons who provide logistics and<br>other forms of support to the<br>terrorists are arrested and subjected<br>to thorough investigation by a<br>combined team of professionals<br>drawn from the intelligence<br>community of the Armed Forces and<br>other security agencies. Anyone not<br>found culpable is not held in custody<br>for further investigations.<br><br>AI must therefore put an end to its<br>reckless distortion of facts in its<br>desperate bid to satisfy its<br>puppeteers by undermining Nigerias<br>Military campaign against terrorism in<br>the NE.<br><br>We urge members of the public to<br>please discountenance AIs report, as<br>it is not a true and realistic reflection<br>of troops counter terrorism operation<br>in the NE</blockquote><br><a href="https://dailypost.ng/2020/02/14/insecurity-amnesty-international-backing-boko-haram-iswap-defence-headquarters/">https://dailypost.ng/2020/02/14/insecurity-amnesty-international-backing-boko-haram-iswap-defence-headquarters/</a>
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