•Deplores lack of collective actions by South-East Governors against insecurity

A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has urged relevant human rights and judicial committees in both chambers of the National Assembly to institute judicial panel of inquiry to probe the outrageous onslaught and alleged killings of civilians in the South-East geopolitical zone.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator on Sunday, September 11, 2022, said it was also worried by the spate of well-coordinated kidnappings by suspected armed Fulani herdsmen in Imo River Bridge near Umuna Okigwe, Enugu/Lokpanta/Okigwe roads and the many instances of kidnappings in Owerri and other urban centres of the Igbo speaking South East of Nigeria just as the rights group has reiterated her advocacy on the urgent need for governors, political stakeholders and traditional institutions to collectively brainstorm and work out implementable measures to check the growing threats to security of South East of Nigeria by suspected armed Fulani terrorists.

The group queried if the continuous successes recorded by these terrorists demonstrate the failures of the armed security forces or are they deliberate acts by heads of the armed security agencies domiciled in the South East and controlled by the President to continue to do nothing whilst security, law and order take a turn for the Worst leading to the eventual economic collapse of the Igbo states.

HURIWA said from military exercises to other independent onslaughts, military men have allegedly committed extrajudicial killings in the South-East geo-political zone, going by accounts of witnesses.

One of such horrific executions is that of about 14 youths at Awo Omamma in the Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State on July 17, 2022. Whilst members of the community and eyewitnesses said operatives of the state-owned Ebubeagu security outfit shot dead the victims identified as wedding guests, the Imo State Government alleged that the victims were “bandits” engaged in a gun duel with security agents.

The Department of State Services, however, erroneously labelled the victims as members of the Eastern Security Network of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra. Already, according to reports, more than 300 persons have been killed in 2021 in the zone alone.

Like the DSS, the Nigerian Army, the Police and other state actors have been accused by eyewitnesses and family members of the victims of executing their people.

“HURIWA won’t want to join issues with the military and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety). Whilst HURIWA has taken notes of some of the points made by Intersociety on accusations of extrajudicial killings by the military and that professionalism, neutrality, secularism and pluralism disappeared from the military since 2015 and states that certain efforts were made previously to deal with allegations of indiscipline in the Army, however, HURIWA takes exception to a statement by Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, that Intersociety’s claims were concocted alongside so-called collaborators,” the group said.

“The military,” it said, “must face reality and painfully face the truth about extrajudicial killings by its officers deployed in the South-East especially in the last two years.”

According to HURIWA: “Amnesty International captured the extrajudicial killings in the South-East when it said at least 115 innocent persons were tagged ‘militants’ and killed by security forces between March and June 2021 in the five states in the zone.

“Also, Intersociety alleged in January that state actors including police, soldiers, DSS operatives, amongst others, killed about 1,400 residents and torched about 1,000 homes in 100 South-East communities within 14 months. There are other scores of unreported cases. These are allegations made with empirical evidence just as what is required is for a proper investigation to be carried out to ascertain the veracity or otherwise and if established as being factually accurate, then the perpetrators in uniform be identified and made to face the wrath of the law so that impunity is not institutionalised.

“HURIWA tasks relevant institutional platforms such as the National Assembly's committees on public petitions, Judiciary and Human Rights to institute an independent judicial commission of inquiry so that the panelists can cross-examine witnesses, including families of victims and eyewitnesses to get to the roots of the groundbreaking allegations of extraneous killings by the military, police and the DSS in the South East over the past seven years as reported by Intersociety, Amnesty International and others. Also, the law enforcement agencies and the respective state ministries of justice should activate mechanisms to prosecute in line with extant law any suspected arsonists accused of involvement in the killings of security agents and the destruction of strategic national security assets in the South East of Nigeria.

“The military has truly not provided satisfactory information to counter these allegations and such crimes against humanity must never be covered under the carpets. Those who kill illegally must answer for their crimes and it is not a fluke to say that there are too many killings of civilians in the South East of Nigeria.

“Instead of killing innocent youths allegedly tagged ESN operatives, the military should rather take defenceless suspects into custody for interrogation and onward prosecution and fair trial in a court of competent jurisdiction if found guilty. Any other approach is an illegality of the highest order. Again, why destroy the Eastern Security Network that is going after armed Fulani terrorists but these federally-funded armed forces destroying the self-styled Eastern Security Network are even accused of collaborating and conspiring with Suspected Armed Fulani herdsmen to continue to carry out organised kidnappings, maiming and decimation of travellers passing through major highways in the South East of Nigeria. We need answers to these issues that are creating doubts about the sincerity of the Federal Government to address these security concerns,” HURIWA stated.

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