HURIWA calls on Buhari to end airstrikes in Imo

A civil rights advocacy group, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to end his unwarranted military aggression in parts of southeast, Nigeria, with specific reference to the reported airstrikes in Imo State.

HURIWA protested that the unilateral and arbitrary deployment of airpower by President Buhari against southeast, Nigeria, even when the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) had reportedly asked their members to disengage from their activities, constituted a crime of military aggression against innocent civilians. The group stated that the airstrikes have created an atmosphere of fear and a climate of uncertainty in the entire Imo State with millions of people unsure of their safety any longer.

HURIWA further acknowledged the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, and other officers in a military plane crash, which the group described as regrettably avoidable and tragic. The group, however, tasked the yet to be appointed successor to the late Chief of Army Staff to be mindful of the inherent human rights of citizens recognized by law.

HURIWA lamented that human rights violations by soldiers during internal military operations, has become unprecedented in the past few weeks in the Southeast Nigeria, noting that this has begun to portray the Nigerian Army in bad light around the World with the concomitant extralegal killing of civilians by soldiers.

The group explained that the charge on the new Chief of Army Staff to compel soldiers to comply by rules of engagement and adhere strictly to the human rights provisions enshrined in the grand norm is because the notoriety of the military under the short spell of time that the late Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru spent constituted global opprobrium and was reprehensible.

HURIWA said mainstreaming respect for the fundamental human rights of civilians by Military personnel in all internal security operations was imperative.

The group also called for a total audit of the military aviation sector going by the frequent Air accidents that have happened in quick succession.

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The group said that the directive by President Buhari to the military to wage aggressive attacks against locations in the southeast Nigeria without provocation may lead to genocide. The group, then,  is appealing to World leaders to intervene now before it becomes too late.

HURIWA noted that specifically, the airstrikes, which took place in Amuzi and Odenkwume communities in the Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area and some neighbouring communities in the Ihitte/Uboma LGA of the state caused the natives to flee their homes.

The Civil Rights Advocacy Group stated that an indigene of the area reportedly said, “There is an ongoing military airstrike in Odenkwume and Amuzi communities in Obowo and their neighbouring communities in Ihitte/Uboma LGA.

“They have continued to attack the communities in search of gunmen suspected to be ESN (Eastern Security Network) members, thereby putting the people of the area in fear.

“Just a few minutes ago, I got a call from my brother and other family members to inform me of what is going on in my community. There is a heavy downpour now that a temporarily suspended airstrike continued in Odenkwume Odenkwume.”

In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf,  HURIWA said the continuous deployment of military force will rather than solve the current security challenges in the Southeast of Nigeria and South-South with specific reference to the unwarranted attacks targeting police formations and operatives by unknown gunmen,  will increase since most people will assume that President Buhari has declared a unilateral and illegal war against the law abiding citizens of Southeast Nigeria.  HURIWA, therefore, asked the government to stop these unlawful airstrikes before they lead to loss of innocent lives of villagers who now live in a state of fear and a climate of panic.