A pro-democracy and pro-environment and Human Rights group, Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development, FENRAD, has warned the federal government of Nigeria and the Army against what it called the killing field in Rivers state.
ABN TV reports that the group further wonders why the Army has engaged in the use of brute force in curtailing the disturbances in Oyigbo Rivers State said to have been caused by members of Indigenous People of Biafra.
In a statement signed by the Executive Director Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy & Development (FENRAD), Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, he said at a time the Army was yet to exonerate itself from Lekki killings, it has engaged itself in another breach of the rule of engagement in Rivers.
Titled, ‘OYIGBO SHOULD NOT BE TURNED INTO A KILLING FIELD, HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP CAUTIONS NIGERIA ARMY, RIVERS & FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS’ FENRAD in the statement also condemned the destruction of property and killing of security agencies by IPOB or any person or group.
“The Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development, FENRAD, a pro-democracy and pro-environment and Human Rights group, worried by the news of disturbances and killings said to be perpetrated by the Nigerian army in Oyigbo, Rivers State in a bid to curtail the activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, cautions the Rivers state and federal governments, as well as the military authorities that Oyigbo should not be turned into a killing field and her people used for target practice by the Nigeria Army.
“News of decimation and wanton arrests and killings are making rounds all demanding that due attention be paid to the plight of the people who are said to be fleeing their land and yet the state government under His Excellency Yesom Wike has remained silent just like the federal government. The silence of the majority is no less crime against the human race.
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“FENRAD strongly condemns any looting and destruction of properties including an attack on military formations whether by secessionist groups like IPOB and the like, hoodlums or criminal elements, but nothing should, FENRAD believes, make the military go against rules of engagement, violate the Nigerian constitution of 1999 as amended; even other international charters and covenants (instruments of international law) to which Nigeria is a signatory.
“It is condemnable – and outrightly so – that at a time when the military has yet to prove its own innocence in what became a Black Tuesday for the nation at Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, a similar or even a worse carnage is still been associated with our military. The Nigerian army should desist from any operations within the Nigerian space that reflects overkill. Brute or kinetic force is never a measure of discipline nor acceptable standard for civic engagement. FENRAD condemns the fact that the military lost some personnel and ammunition to hoodlums in that area but wonders still if Nigeria is sliding back into the 1960s decade when the army was used to advance the political goal of a few; even for target practice.
“FENRAD calls on Governor Wike to, as the chief security officer of Rivers State, live up to the occasion and return Oyigbo to its hitherto peaceful state. The federal government should be aware that certain misconducts by men and officers who man and officer the Nigerian army could win us a trophy of shame within the international circle and comity of states even as we seek concerted effort of the international community to overcome Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges and menace.
“The military in any operations targeted at recovering weapons carted away during the #EndSARS protest that later was taken over by hoodlums should not do so at the expense of human lives protection of which is its mandate. Gory details abound about Oyigbo that scares any human deserving a place in that race. FENRAD also reaches out to traditional leaders of Oyigbo and entire Rivers State to ensure that under their traditional custody their land and people never slid into anarchy.
“The military should intelligently recover its weapons but must not bring terror and blood to rain in any part of the country. If the military goes unprofessional about it then the police with the constitutional duty to oversee internal matters should be deployed. Enough” it says.
