The Nigerian presidency has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra of stockpiling weapons, including bombs, across the country.
The government made the allegation through a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja on Wednesday.
The statement was titled: “Why Amnesty entreaties should be ignored”.
The statement read in part:
“Again, they have decided to side with terrorists, before the liberty of those they injure, displace and murder.
“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.
“This puts them in bad company. Controversial American lobbyists are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to do the same, laundering IPOB’s reputation in Washington DC.
“IPOB murders Nigerian citizens. They kill police officers and military personnel and set government property on fire. Now, they have amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.
“Were this group in a western country, you would not expect to hear Amnesty’s full-throated defence of their actions. Instead, there would be silence or mealy-mouthed justification of western governments’ action to check the spread of “terrorism.”
“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.”
The government’s reaction follows a statement by Amnesty International on Monday in which it asked the government to comply with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and end the scourge in the country.
AI had said that the documented people included former militants from Niger Delta, IPOB members, and #EndSARS protesters, and others.
The allegations against the government were contained in a statement titled, “Nigeria: Authorities must end enforced disappearance”.
According to the report, “Scores of disappearance cases such as these remain unresolved and cast doubt on Nigerian government’s commitment to keeping its own citizens safe.
“Families affected by enforced disappearance live through unimaginable torment. When people vanish without a trace, with the acquiescence of the state who then denies all knowledge, it’s impossible to move on.
“The cases of at least 200 people – including former militants from Niger Delta, members of IPOB, #EndSARS protesters and security suspects believed to have been subjected to unresolved enforced disappearances in Nigeria have been documented by Amnesty International – The real number is believed to be higher.
“Nigerian security forces often cite the anti-terror law that allows the authorities to hold people without charge or trial in unofficial places of detention; often without contact to the outside world in practice, clearly increase the risk of people disappearing after being detained.
