Amnesty Int’l: A humanitarian or destablising organ?
Without mincing words, London based Amnesty International is gradually becoming a ghost of itself. In recent times, AI is gradually deviating from the objectives for which its founding fathers have set it up. This is so particularly in Nigeria at least in the last four years or so. One begins to wonder how it has […]
Without mincing words, London based Amnesty International is gradually becoming a ghost of itself. In recent times, AI is gradually deviating from the objectives for which its founding fathers have set it up. This is so particularly in Nigeria at least in the last four years or so. One begins to wonder how it has allowed Nigerian opposition politicians in particular to have infiltrated its regular members thus making a whole mess of its conduct. Over time, AI has dragged itself in the mud too much and is gradually loosing focus and direction particularly in the comity of Humanitarian and civil society oragnisations.
For the record, the mission of AI which came into being in 1961, is to campaign for a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal declaration of human rights
In its recent report mischievously tagged, “harvest of deaths”: three years of bloody clashes between farmers and herders in Nigeria, Amnesty International claimed that after visiting 56 communities in Adamawa, Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Zamfara, Plateau and Nassarawa states affected by the clashes, it conducted 262 interviews and came to the conclusion that ‘government’s inaction fuelled impunity resulting in attacks and reprisal attacks with at least 3, 641 deaths between January 2016 and October 2018 alone’. From these and other past reports of the AI one can confidently and without any fear of contradiction say that the report is not only biased but a complete contrast with the reality on ground. One begins to wonder why AI narrowed its report to only 4 years when we are all aware that the Farmers-Herders clashes are as old as Nigeria itself largely due to farming and grazing issues. The Nigerian Military has since reacted to the AI report saying there is credible information that the Nigerian branch of AI is determined to destabilize the Nigerian nation. While condemning the report in its entirety, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Major General Sani Usman noted that AI has compromised and therefore called for its exit from Nigeria.
President Buhari himself faulted the report saying, “its (AI) operations appeared to have been geared towards damaging the morale of the country’s military”.
On its part, the Buhari Media Organisation, BMO described the report as mischievous and one aimed at creating the impression that the conflict between farmers and herders is only 3 years old.
Given its content and timing, one would have no alternative but to believe that the intentions are obviously explicit and aimed at degrading and maligning the efforts of the Buhari administration to settle the disputes between Farmers and Herders and all other community, tribal and religious conflicts in the country with a view to returning normalcy. The Federal Government of Nigeria has since taking over power in May 2015 made conscious efforts to end these clashes. It has committed human and financial resources to make lives more meaningful in all the nooks and crannies of the country. Security around the affected areas have been beefed up, arrests made and some charged to court. Also, the Police has recovered almost 10, 000 illegal firearms and ammunition from suspected militia, armed herdsmen and farmers in a nationwide mop-up exercise. The government has also catered for the up keep of all displaced persons in those areas. Most importantly, the government has put in place confidence building mechanisms that have significantly reduced tension in the affected areas.
There is no doubt that the PMB administration has done enough to bring lasting peace to all areas ravaged by conflicts in the country.
The title of “harvest of deaths” would have more sense if it were directed at the Yar’adua/Jonathan administration where hundreds of lives were lost and billions of Naira properties destroyed in Southern Kaduna, Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state, in Katsina and also in Zamfara states from January 2012-May 2015 among others.
In conclusion, one can say with great regret that AI has been taken over by fifth columnists who have disguised themselves as watchdogs over human rights abuses in Nigeria. It is high time that the owners of AI re-strategise and purge itself of bad eggs before it gets too late. As it is today, AI has lost that credibility for which it was known for some 15-20 years ago. AI has gone bananas.
Musa Ilalah, Abuja, [email protected]