An anti terror group, the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) has raised the alarm over what it described as deliberate attempt by Amnesty International to creating enabling environment for the spawning of terrorism in West Africa.
The group said this assertion is based on the recent tirade by Amnesty International in which it called on the Federal Government to hold security forces accountable for killing of Shiites without situating the wrongdoings committed by the group that made it clash with the security.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, National Coordinator of CATE, Gabriel Onoja said it is concerned that Amnesty International is on the way to providing the incentives to make the its Shiite ally, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) into a replacement for Boko Haram after it became glaring that Boko Haram will never be able to provide the kind of destabilization it had hoped for.
He said, “This trend is not new with the so called International NGO as it has persistently waged a campaign of incitement against the Nigerian state and critical institutions like the Police and the Nigerian military.
“Part of the pattern being promoted by this NGO is to attempt decriminalizing the atrocities being committed by IMN extremists. This consists largely of using images of IMN members that died in clashes with security agencies to draw attention away from the acts of terror committed by IMN prior to and in the course of confrontation with the security forces”
He said Amnesty International engaged the same tactic when it repeatedly used lies about human rights abuses to obstruct Nigeria’s war on terrorism.
According to him, the implication is that the terror group now uses the NGO as a shield each time it wants to re-group after being defeated.
He said, “the blame for the lingering Boko Haram crisis is therefore on Amnesty International. Leah Sharibu and other hostages would never have been held by Boko Haram against their fundamental rights while others victims that have been killed and deprived of their rights to life would certainly still be among the living if only Amnesty International allows security and military agencies to do their work.”
Onoja explained that members of the IMN, under the pretext of protesting for the release of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakyzaky, obstruct the roads and harass other commuters, wondering if Amnesty International is aware that among the road users that are trapped in the gridlocks created by these protests are patients being rushed to hospital for life saving medical intervention.
He said, “The suggestion of this so called international NGO is that it is okay for IMN to obstruct the roads in manner that kill people even though charges may never be brought against them and that the persons that will die in such
agonizing manner do not have rights.
“Amnesty International is suggesting that stones, slingshots, sticks and fused bottles filled with petrol do not qualify as weapons; it is practically saying that we should allow members of the group attack security personnel with these items since they are not considered to be lethal weapons”
He said further that it is time the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) takes the practical step of sanctioning Amnesty International especially by way of distancing itself from the questionable group as its work around the globe have added to human misery instead of the converse.
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