The Army is now to lead the battle against suspected Fulani herdsmen who have been attacking villages in Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau states, it was learnt yesterday. Many people have been killed in attacks on villages.
The Defence Headquarters announced the major military response to the ongoing killings and wanton destruction of property by armed bandits in three Northcentral states.
A statement by the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, said the operation, which started on Sunday, is being coordinated by the Army.
Gen. Olukolade said troops had already been deployed in the various enclaves and flash points from where the armed bandits launch their attacks on remote communities in the three states.
The operation is largely aimed at capturing the itinerant armed bandits with the view to recovering their illegally acquired firearms and turning them over for investigation and prosecution.
“The internal security operation is meant to capture and neutralise all the enclaves of criminal gangs. The Nigerian Air Force, Police and other security agencies are also participating in the operation designed to restore peace in the affected states.
“Law abiding citizens in the affected states are enjoined to cooperate by providing timely and useful information to facilitate the operation as it affects their localities,” the statement added.
Also yesterday, the military dismissed as “totally untrue” accusations by an international rights watchdog, Amnesty International, that government troops – currently embroiled in a prolonged conflict with Boko Haram insurgents – were committing war crimes and grave rights abuses.
“We cannot understand these claims of human rights abuses against our men who are putting their lives in danger to ensure the safety of the masses,” Gen. Olukolade said yesterday.
In a report dated March 31, the London-based Amnesty International asserted that increasing Boko Haram attacks and “uncontrolled reprisals” by security forces had killed at least 1500 people – more than half of them civilians – in the first quarter of 2014.
“The scale of atrocities carried out by Boko Haram is truly shocking, creating a climate of fear and insecurity,” the report stated.
“But this cannot be used to justify the brutality of the response that is clearly being meted out by Nigeria’s security forces,” it added.
Amnesty cited a daring March 14 attack by Boko Haram militants on a military barracks in Maiduguri, aimed at freeing hundreds of detained group members.
“Amnesty International has received credible evidence that, as the military regained control, more than 600 people, mostly unarmed recaptured detainees, were extra-judicially executed in various locations across Maiduguri,” it said.
“The international community cannot continue to look the other way in the face of extrajudicial executions, attacks on civilians, and other crimes under international law being committed on a mass scale,” Amnesty asserted.
The Nigerian army spokesman described the report as “unfair and totally untrue”.
Gen. Olukolade said government troops were constantly reminded of the need to respect human rights and ensure that no innocent person is harmed.
“We have some of the most professional soldiers in the world.
“Our men understand and follow through on the rules of engagement, even as they engage faceless enemies who have wasted thousands of innocent lives and destroyed public infrastructure,” Gen. Olukolade added.
