A non-govermental organisation, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has faulted the outcome of the panel raised to investigate the allegation of ethnic cleansing against the military in Taraba State by former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma. The group described the report, which gave a clean bill of health to the Army, as “dubiously self-serving, subjective, wishy-washy and pre-determined.”It argued that the outcome of the committee, raised by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, cannot pass the test of time because it was largely composed by the “same military officers and their cronies masquerading as civil society stakeholders who in any event are the accused and friends of the accused in the allegations of collusion with armed hoodlums.”In a statement yesterday in Abuja by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA called for a property investigation by a “wholly independent and credible body of investigators so that an unassailable position can be determined through evidences and accounts by eye witnesses.”The group said it was “incredible that the military authorities had to set up such a kangaroo panel after the acting Director of Defence Information has already dismissed General Danjuma’s allegations.”It argued that the setting up of the panel was basically a product of an “afterthought which came about by the huge body of constructive criticisms of the military in the aftermath of the allegations of collusion with armed Fulani terrorists by the military as made by no other ordinary person but General Danjuma who is one of the few remaining pioneer military officers of post-independence Nigeria.”HURIWA said it was unfortunate that the “Army could waste money and resources to procure the same pre-determined conclusions that had already been made public by the directorate of media and public relations at the Defence headquarters.”Meanwhile, a group, Joint Nigeria Crisis Action Committee (JN-CAC), has asked the Federal Government to immediately put an end to the killings across the federation. In a statement yesterday in Abuja by former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, the organisation lamented regretted the frequency of the killings in parts of the country, noting that the development was becoming a source of grave concern to Nigerians and as such, “the dehumanisation of Nigerian lives must stop.”According to the group, the carnage was lingering linger because “government and politicians are indifferent to the situation.”It called on Nigerians to join in its mourning and remembrance procession for all victims of violent attacks on May 28 at Unity Fountain, Abuja.

Source: The Guardian May 22, 2018 03:45 UTC