Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Washington DC, United States, said the protection of human rights was a cardinal objective of the President Buhari administration.
Mohammed, in a statement by his Special Assistant, Segun Adeyemi, and made available to Saturday Sun in Abuja, also said the violation of peoples’ rights was not a government policy.
Mohammed made the government’s position on human rights known while addressing a high-level round-table organised by the Atlantic Council, an American think-tank on international affairs.
The high-level roundtable was attended by about 30 current and former senior US government officials, as well as other stakeholders in the US policy on Africa.
The participants included former Commander, US Africa Command, Gen. William Ward (rtd), a former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms Robin Sanders; President and Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Council on Africa, Ms Florizelle Liser; the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Amb. Sylvanus Nsofor, amongst others.
Mohammed said the picture of impunity and complete disregard for extant laws and international obligations painted by the Amnesty International (AI) in a recent report is not a true reflection of the character and ethics of the Government of Nigeria or any of its agencies.
He said the Buhari administration has taken several measures to address human rights violation in the course of the counter-insurgency operations, including the establishment of Human Rights Desks in all military formations, the quarterly Human Rights/Military Dialogue, Training on Mainstreaming Human Rights into Counter-Insurgency operations, and Court Martials of officers indicted for human rights violations.
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”Very soon, the Federal Government will adopt a National Policy on the Protection of Civilians in conflict situations to further strengthen and entrench its constitutional practice of Protection of Civilians,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed further opened up on the counter-insurgency operations in the country, maintaining that Boko Haram has been badly degraded.
He added that following the development, the terrorist group is currently incapable of carrying out organised massive attacks beyond using women and children to carry out suicide bombings against soft targets.
”Many have queried how we could say Nigeria is winning the battle against Boko Haram when the insurgents have continued to carry out deadly attacks. However, to understand this, it is necessary to put things in context.
When President Buhari was being sworn into office May 29, 2015, 24 local governments making up a territory, three times the size of Lebanon, were firmly in the hands of Boko Haram.
“They hoisted their flag, collected taxes, installed their own Emirs and administered a large swath of territory. That is history now as not an inch of Nigeria’s territory is being administered or controlled by Boko Haram.
”Before the advent of this administration, Boko Haram could carry out attacks anywhere in the North East and beyond at a time of their own choosing.
“They attacked the United Nations (UN) Complex, the police headquarters, motor parks and a military barrack in the capital city of Abuja. That is now history,” Mohammed stated.
Mohammed also said the incessant farmers-herders clashes were neither religious nor ethnic in nature, as they have been portrayed in some circles.
”There is no question that this (conflict) is driven mostly by an increased contest for dwindling natural resources like land and water.
“This has been worsened by demographic pressure and climate change. Nigeria’s population in 1960 was 45 million, and this has ballooned to about 200 million in 2018, but the available resources have not grown at all. If anything, they have shrunk.
”As desertification continues to encroach and the Lake Chad that provided a livelihood for over 35 million in several countries shrank from 25,000 to 2,500 square kilometers, herders in particular are forced to move south in search of grazing land and water for their cattle,” Mohammed added.
Meanwhile, efforts by Saturday Sun to get the reaction of the Amnesty International Country Director, Osai Ojigho, did not yield result.
Ojigho did not respond to telephone call, nor a text message from Saturday Sun at the time of filing this report.
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