EditorTHE presidency has accused Amnesty International of allegedly supporting Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), which it described as terror group in Nigeria.
In a statement released on Wednesday, The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, claimed that the international human rights group supports groups in Nigeria that violently oppose the government.
Shehu specifically alleged that IPOB was stockpiling weapons in substantial quantity for use in Nigeria.
Amnesty international is an International Non Government Organization (INGO) seeking the promotion of rights of people. The group had on August 5 accused Nigerian security operatives of applying excessive force in crackdown on Biafran agitators and killing about 115 of them in South-East and other parts of the country.
Shehu said the rights group adopted the language of universal human rights to defend groups that violently oppose the government.
He said, “speaking the language of universal human rights, Amnesty International deploys it only in defence – even outright promotion – of those that violently oppose the Federal Government of Nigeria. Parroting the line of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, a proscribed terror organisation, they work to legitimise its cause to Western audiences.”
He also accused IPOB members of killing citizens, security operatives and destroying public properties.
He argued that the rights group has no legal basis to operate in Nigeria.
“Despite Amnesty’s self-proclaimed mandate to impartially transcend borders, unfortunately in Nigeria they play only domestic politics. The international NGO is being used as cover for the organisation’s local leaders to pursue their self-interests. Regrettably, this is not uncommon in Africa. There is nothing wrong with an activist stance; there are claims of neutrality, when all facts point to the opposite.
“Amnesty International has no legal right to exist in Nigeria. It must open a formal investigation into the personnel that occupy their Nigerian offices. They should reject the outrageously tendentious misinformation they receive and bring some semblance of due diligence to the sources they base their claims on. Currently, we see none.
“The Nigerian government will fight terrorism with all the means at its disposal. We will ignore Amnesty’s rantings. Especially when it comes from an organisation that does not hold itself to the same standards it demands of others,” Shehu stated.
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