The Nigerian Army has faulted the claims by the global human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI) that its men killed over 150 pro-Biafran protesters.
The rights body, in its latest report, accused the Nigerian military of gunning down unarmed civilians before a march to mark the anniversary of the 1967 Biafran declaration of independence, stressing that based on visits to hospitals and mortuaries, at least 17 were killed and nearly 50 injured in Onitsha alone.
Reacting to the claim, army said AI was only championing a campaign of calumny against Nigeria’s military, especially the Army, with release of the report on the alleged mass killing of members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOD) by the Army.
A statement by Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said the allegation is an “outright attempt to tarnish the reputation of the security forces in general and the Nigerian Army in particular, for whatever inexplicable parochial reasons”.
“We wish to debunk the insinuation that our troops perpetrated the killing of defenceless agitators. For the umpteenth time, the Army has informed the public about the heinous intent of this non-governmental organisation (NGO), which is never relenting in dabbling into our national security in manners that obliterate objectivity, fairness and simple logic.
“The evidence of MASSOB/IPOB violent secessionist agitations is widely known across the national and international domains. Their modus operandi has continued to relish violence that threatens national security. Indeed, between August 2015 and August 2016, the groups’ violent protests have manifested unimaginable atrocities to unleash the reign of peace, security and stability in several parts of the Southeast.
“A number of persons from the settler communities, who hailed from other parts of the country, were selected for attacks – killed and burnt. Such a reign of hate, terror and ethno-religious controversies that portend grave consequences for national security have been averted severally through the responsiveness of the Army and members of the security agencies.”
AI in a report by its interim Director in Nigeria, Makmid Kamara, said there are evidence to justify its claim.
Kamara claimed that analysis of 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 eyewitness testimonies relating to demonstrations and other gatherings between August 2015 and August 2016 showed that the military fired live ammunition with little or no warning to disperse pro-Biafra protesters.
The report said mass evidence of extrajudicial killings carried out by security forces were found.
According to the report, security agents shot dead at least 60 people in the space of two days in during the events to mark Biafra Remembrance Day.
Kamara said, “This deadly repression of pro-Biafra activists is further stoking tensions in the south east of Nigeria. This reckless and trigger-happy approach to crowd control has caused at least 150 deaths and we fear the actual total might be far higher.
“The Nigerian government’s decision to send in the military to respond to pro-Biafra events seems to be in large part to blame for this excessive bloodshed. The authorities must immediately launch an impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to book.”
On the extrajudicial killings, AI claimed that a large percentage of activists were killed on Biafra Remembrance Day on May 30 organised by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
“It is chilling to see how these soldiers gunned down peaceful IPOB members. The video evidence shows that this was a military operation with intent to kill and injure.”
It said a night before the rally, the security forces raided homes and a church where IPOB members were sleeping, and that on Remembrance Day itself, the security forces shot people in several locations.
It added that it had not been able to verify the exact number of extrajudicial executions, but it estimated that at least 60 people were killed and 70 injured in these two days.
Narrating how soldiers killed the husband of a 28-year-old woman, Ngozi, the international rights group quoted the woman as saying her husband left in the morning to go to work but called her shortly afterwards saying he had been shot by the military in his abdomen.
The deceased prior to his death said he was in a military vehicle with six others, four of whom were already dead.
“He started whispering and said they just stopped [the vehicle]. He was scared they would kill the remaining three of them that were alive… He paused and told me they were coming closer. I heard gunshots and I did not hear a word from him after that.
“The next day Ngozi searched for her husband and finally found his body in a nearby mortuary. The mortuary attendants told her that the military had brought him and six others. She saw three gunshot wounds: one in his abdomen and two in his chest, which confirmed her fear that the military had executed him.
“Amnesty International has also reviewed videos of a peaceful gathering of IPOB members and supporters at Aba National High School on 9 February 2016. The Nigerian military surrounded the group and then fired live ammunition at them without any prior warning.
“According to eyewitnesses and local human rights activists, many of the protesters at Aba were rounded up and taken away by the military. On 13 February 13 corpses, including those of men known to have been taken by the military, were discovered in a pit near the Aba highway”.
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