CSOs laud military ‘over peace’ in north-east

The Coalition on Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Nigeria has described as false, recent reports that over 60 persons were killed in the Rann area of Borno state by members of the Boko Haram insurgents.

Amnesty International had in a statement said at least 60 people were killed following the devastating Boko Haram attack on January 28..

However, the human rights group said its tour of the theatre showed that the situation was not so bad.

The coalition made this known in a preliminary report presented on Monday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

“The current news making the rounds on Boko Haram attacks in Rann, Damaturu road and other parts of the North East necessitated the Coalition on Conflict Resolution and Human Rights in Nigeria to activate a team of researchers to undertake an assessment tour of the above mentioned areas with a view to leaving the realm of speculation and to put things in proper perspective,” the group said in a report by Gabriel Oche, its president.

“The operations of the Boko Haram terrorists in North East Nigeria have been the subject of debate across various platforms in Nigeria. While it has been stated in numerous forums that Boko Haram has been degraded, some organizations have countered the argument indicating that Boko Haram has instead intensified its operations against the Nigeria state.

“The Nigerian military, on the other hand, has been in the vanguard of engaging the terrorist and this has resulted in casualties on both sides. This much has been evident in ensuring that peace is restored to North East Nigeria and the safe return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their homes and communities.

“From previous reports on the activities of the Nigerian military in North East Nigeria, it has been revealed that the since 2015 the Nigerian military gained grounds and recovered many territories that were once under the control of Boko Haram terrorists and it has continually engaged the Boko Haram terrorist who has resorted to using Nigeria’s neighbours (Chad, Niger, and Cameroon) as retreat areas whenever they come under heavy bombardment from the Nigeria military .

“The Boko Haram Terrorist have also set up training camps along the fringes and use such location to launch attacks in communities in Nigeria and after that retreat to these countries. This is despite the memorandum of understanding signed between Nigeria and the francophone countries towards forming an alliance to combat terrorism in Sub Saharan Africa.

“There also have been established cases of external support towards the Boko Haram terrorist, especially with the affiliation of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) and other terrorist’s networks in the world.

“Consequently, this report looks critically at the claims made by the Nigeria Army towards degrading the Boko Haram Terrorists and also the counterclaims made by some organizations such as Amnesty International and others.

“Our researcher was able to uncover some details about some senior staffers in some of the NGOs that might suggest why they have been ferocious in their criticism of the operations of the Nigerian military in North East Nigeria.”