A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), says the Nigerian Army was misplacing her priority by confronting and killing unarmed members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and then letting Fulani terrorists in the North West, and elements of the Boko Haram terrorists to continuously launch deadly attacks in the North West, Niger State of Nigeria, Adamawa in the North East and Kogi State.

HURIWA also accused President Muhammadu Buhari of selective justice by spending taxpayers’ funds to rehabilitate and deradicalise hardened Boko Haram terrorists responsible for the killings of over 30,000 citizens, including women and children but the Commander-in-Chief permits the killings of totally unarmed members of the proscribed IPOB in the South East of Nigeria.

The group wondered why the Chief of Army Staff, (CAOS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, was fixated about a bunch of boys under the auspices of the IPOB and constantly dishing out warnings to deal with Igbo youths whereas Fulani terrorists are allowed to go on rampage in parts of Northern Nigeria killing, maiming and destroying lives and property, including the kidnapping and killings of pastors and students in Kaduna and Kogi states.

HURIWA challenged the Army Chief to launch a successful rescue mission to bring out some Northern female students abducted by North West terrorists since the last eight months.

“It is a crying shame that Nigeria has a functional Army that falsely prides itself as the biggest army in Africa but rag tag terrorists and Islamic rebels are allowed to kill at will. Where are the over 30 Fulani terrorists declared wanted by the Defence Headquarters and why are these terrorists being allowed to continue to expand their frontiers of attacks on soft targets, including school girls whom they routinely raid their dormitories to kidnap?,” HURIWA said.

The rights group recalled that eight months after the abduction of 80 students from the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, in Kebbi State, more than 10 of them were still in captivity despite payment of ransom and prisoner swap, at different times.

Bandits loyal to a kingpin, Dogo Gide, ransacked the school on June 17, last year, and left with dozens of students and five teachers of the federal government-owned mixed boarding school. The group said it reliably gathered that between 11 and 14 of the students were still being held by Gide with only one of them, a male.

Also, one more student of Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna is still being held by his abductors, over seven months after he and scores of his schoolmates were rounded off at night by attackers who killed two security personnel on duty.

HURIWA recalled that at least 10 schools abductions were recorded last year as bandits’ gangs targeted schools in Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi states.

The abductions followed the first of such attacks by bandits in December 2020 when a gang led by one Auwal Daudawa attacked Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina State, and abducted over 200 students.

HURIWA stated that the FGC Yauri attack, which occurred less than 20 days after the mass abduction of pupils from Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, Niger State.

The terrorist group, Boko Haram, had meted out similar treatment to captors, notably the Chibok girls abducted in 2014.

HURIWA reminded the Army chief of staff Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya that a 12-year-old JSS 1 student of Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna State, who was kidnapped on July 2, 2021, along with dozens of others, has remained in captivity.

HURIWA therefore expressed strong reservations that whereas the well-armed and sophisticated terrorists of Fulani ethnicity were successfully taken in several hostages in many states, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya on Monday, issued a stern warning to violent groups across the country to desist from threatening the sovereignty of the nation because the army would do everything within its power to contain all forms of threats against Nigeria.

Yahaya gave the warning in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the Chief of Army Staff First Quarter Conference 2023.

The COAS said that the peaceful conduct of the general election across the country, including in the South-east, despite the sense of insecurity created by criminal elements in the region was a testament to Nigerian Army’s resolve to ensure security in the entire nation.

Yahaya noted that this was made possible through successful conduct of Operation Safe Conduct 2023 across the nation, which saw the Nigerian Army along with other services and agencies, ensuring successful general elections.

His words: “Our additional efforts through Joint Task Force Operation Udoka paid off in the South-east thus ensuring successful elections in the region as well, even though, long before the actual elections, IPOB/ESN and their supporters had threatened that there would be no elections in the zone.

“Elections were, therefore, held in the South-east and successfully too, just like other parts of the country. Generally, our operations and decisive actions against the criminal elements have impacted positively on the security situation in the region, giving confidence to law-abiding citizens in the South-east.”

Yahaya explained that the army’s “continuous injection of specially trained troops and special equipment through Operations Lake Sanity and Desert Sanity to complement efforts by Operation Hadin Kai, has been rewarding. The insurgents and terrorists no longer have freedom of action and that has amongst other benefits resulted in massive surrender by the unauthorised on this sheet violates the adversaries.

“This is indeed a commendable effort and achievement by all of you, the other sister services, stakeholders and indeed our able predecessors. Though impressive are these efforts, but we are not relenting. Rather, we are even channeling more efforts towards consolidating on these successes in order to completely neutralise insurgents that fail to surrender.”

However, HURIWA reminded the Army chief that the Kaduna State government has confirmed the abduction of 10 students from Government Day Secondary School in Awon, Kachia Local Government Area of the state.

The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said on Tuesday that the students were abducted last Monday.

“HURIWA is therefore urging the Chief of Army Staff to pay more attention and focus on eradicating Boko Haram terrorists, Fulani terrorists in the North West and rescue school children kidnapped by terrorists rather getting unnecessarily fixated with Igbo youths who are completely unarmed,” the statement added.