BEVERLY HILLS, August 19, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters has faulted a Daily Independent Newspaper of London report which accused the Nigerian military of various human rights abuses including committing “war crimes by terrorizing some of its citizens in the war against insurgency” in northern Nigeria.
In two separate statements posted on the DHQ Website, the military described the video documentary and a news report which the newspaper published on the web as a part of a “biased and judgmental posture of a section of the western press who are prepared to go to any extent, even if it means parroting falsehood, just so to find avenue to denigrate African Governments and institutions.”
The DHQ said, “Daily Independent did not lay claim to any sense of professionalism in coming out with that grossly unsubstantiated and bogus allegation against the Nigerian government. No credible independent source or government official was contacted “to ascertain the veracity of those wild claims yet the sanctimonious and all-knowing Daily Independent could not exercise any restraint to be sure of its story.””
It further said, “Is it not preposterous to even suggest that “4000 people have died in military custody…” when it is on record that suspected terrorists are held in various facilities while being processed for prosecution? At what point then did 4000 people die in military custody? This ludicrous report did not come as a surprise to anybody since this biased mindset against Nigerian government has always characterized this newspaper even before the commencement of the ongoing counter-terrorist operation.
“The Daily Independent newspaper and its ilk should be reminded that the Nigerian military and by extension the government cannot be intimidated by this patterned bias and supremacist mindset in reporting Africa. Having adopted this kind of judgmental posture, we will not be surprised by any phantom video they will release to support their wild claim. We therefore urge the general public to discountenance this obviously jaundiced report or whatever phantom video as it is all aimed at tarnishing the image of Nigerian military.
“The preposterous interrogative posture of Daily Independent since the inception of the war on terror in Nigeria clearly questions the integrity of the said documentary and is therefore an indication of frantic effort at tarnishing the Nigerian military and ultimately the Nigerian nation. The so called documentary should therefore be taken with a pinch of the salt.”
The full text of the other statement reads: “The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has carefully watched the 4 minute video clip which the Daily Independent newspaper, UK promised to release detailing what it described as “Nigerian government’s war crime against its citizens”.
“It is noteworthy that despite the very wide and alarming promotion given to the said document, the material only contained a synopsis of scenes from the same video which has been in circulation on the internet for some weeks now.
“It will be recalled that the military authority has also initiated a broad investigation into these clips, with a view to identifying those indicted to ensure that due justice is meted to any perpetrator of human rights abuse narrated in those films. It is also noteworthy that the only new addition to the video film report of the documentary are the comments by individuals whose position about terrorism in Nigeria are already well known.
“It is therefore curious that despite the ongoing efforts, these apparently orchestrated campaign with the use of scenes and footages that are under investigation could constitute a threat to the efforts to locate the culprits of the alleged human rights abuse.
“It will be recalled that similar attitude was displayed last week by a human rights campaign group which, despite assurances of due investigation of the crimes alleged in these video, still went ahead to embark on a media campaign with similar video, thereby apparently giving the likely culprits a chance to escape or cover their tracks. It would appear that this hastily packaged conclusions and judgmental remarks are clearly in furtherance of the now common public assault against the Nigerian Government and its military.
“Unfortunately, these tendency only serves to compromise efforts at unraveling the perpetrators of the crimes, thereby compounding the evil of war crime as Daily Independent UK puts it.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it must be stated that the DHQ has not reneged on its promise to deeply investigate the veracity of these video clips when it first appeared on the internet. It must be reiterated here that the Nigerian military takes human rights issues very seriously and will not take lightly any proven case of abuse by its personnel.
“The barbaric bahaviour depicted in that video clip remains strange and unexpected in a professional force like the Nigerian military, especially considering the efforts that has been put into ensuring due observance of human rights in all operations.
“Rather, it is a well-known fact that such savagery is consistent with the blood thirsty terrorist group which would not be tolerated within the operations of the Nigerian military.
“The glee with which the Daily Independent newspaper promoted the said video in their earlier report is without doubt in sync with the biased and judgmental posture of a section of the western press who are prepared to go to any extent, even if it means parroting falsehood, just so to find avenue to denigrate African Governments and institutions.”
