By Amos Mathew/Kaduna
“A purported timeline” of 28th October, 2020 generated by the Amnesty International, trying to legitimize the two weeks protests of the excesses of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, has faulted the claim.
The coalition expressed concern of Amnesty international intention aimed to legitimize the sad fallout of the clumsy and unregulated disturbances #EndSARS protests across the country that lasted and grew in dimension for about two weeks by the office of Mr Osai Ojigho, the Country Director of Amnesty International.
In a letter addressed and forwarded to the Secretary General, Amnesty International Headquarters, London, WC1, United Kingdom, and read to Journalists in Kaduna on Friday by the CNG’s spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, that, “Notwithstanding the availability of contrary evidence of the level of rampage and brigandage prompted by the desperation of the #EndSARS protests, the timeline released by Amnesty International claims to rely on collated photographs and video footages to conclude that Nigerian Army vehicles left Bonny Camp military base and were tracked to the Lekki toll gate, one of the major public spaces occupied for the #EndSARS protests since beginning of October.
“That the Nigerian military opened fire on the #EndSARS protesters who were peacefully calling for an end to police brutality.
“That Amnesty International’s Crisis Response experts investigated and verified social media videos and photographs that confirm the Nigerian security forces were present at the Lekki Toll Gate when the shootings occurred and alleges mope up by the military to cover-up its involvement.”
The letter explained that while the #EndSARS protests that began early October this year, concentrating mostly in the Southern parts of Nigeria, were preceded by other marches seeking an end to the deterioting security situation across all sections of the northern region.
CNG noted that for several days afterwards, the carnage, believed to be instigated by IPOB’ fugitive leader, Nnamdi Kanu, assumed dangerous contours with the greater risk of degenerating into a case of the complete breakdown of law and order, which is not in consonance with the objectives of peaceful protests anywhere in the world.
The coalition observed that by jumping to conclusions on the basis of what it called doubtful and flimsy pieces of circumstantial evidence, that Amnesty International has just made what is known as a Fundamental Attribution Error.
It added that by succumbing to a personal set of biases, the Amnesty International timeline appears more obsessed with the #EndSARS segment of the two separate protests that ran concurrently to shape the events of the last two weeks.
CNG explained that in desperation to legitimize an obvious violent protest as peaceful, the Amnesty International timeline has either deliberately or ignorantly overlooked the gruesome killings of Nigerian security personnel, attacks on northerners, and the destruction of public utilities and private facilities.
CNG, therefore called on the Amnesty International to prove its neutrality by by insisting on the rights of the slain policemen and innocent northerners as humans and bona fide Nigerian citizens.
It reminded Amnesty International that its bilateral relationship with any nation, is guided by the principles of sovereignty, promotion of peace and the standards that guide legitimate interference.
It said Amnesty International’s intervention, exclamations and actions on issues in Nigeria ought not be drawn to discountenance the effort of government to protect citizens from violence and to impose law and order.
CNG noted that while international law allows for peaceful protest, assembly and association, it at the same time, does not legitimize violence and destruction.
“Amnesty International should understand that there are clear provisions in Nigeria as there are in international law and other international conventions and treaties on the legality of restricting violent assembly, and on enforcing the law to protect the right of others, to ensure national security, and to guarantee public safety and public order,” the letter explained.
It said Nigeria as the most populous country on the continent and one that continuous to influence peace and stability across the sub-continent, any breakdown of law and order would further make dangerous the situation in the region, and escalate the humanitarian situation in terms of regional security, international cohesion, migration and other challenges that will affect Africa and beyond.
