Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, condemned invasion of Aku-Okigwe in Imo State by the Nigerian Army and South-east security outfit, Ebubeagu, in effort to rescue an abducted female soldier, Lieutenant PP Johnson.
While condemning the abduction of the female soldier who was visiting her grandmother by unknown gunmen, on December 26, 2022, the group said the method adopted by the military on December 31, 2022, in which the entire stretch of the Federal Highway from Okigwe in Imo State up to Lokpanta in Abia State was blocked, and travellers left stranded for hours, even as neighbouring villages were set ablaze by soldiers, totally violated rules of engagement in internal security operations.
In a statement by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group stressed that kidnapping and killings of members of security forces by hoodlums are intolerable crimes against humanity, the rights group challenged operatives working within the intelligence community to arrest the actual perpetrators of these unmitigated violence.
HURIWA’s Onwubiko said: “The reported invasion of Aku-Okigwe by military and Ebubeagu officers is condemnable just as the abduction and dehumanisation of Lieutenant PP Johnson by unknown gunmen. Hoodlums, like those seen in a viral video torturing the female soldier do not deserve to be pardoned and security agents must go after them.
“ While charging security agents to go after the perpetrators of the act, HURIWA cautioned state actors against the use of maximum force on the residents of the community where the abduction occurred to avoid collateral damage.
“The fact that most people who were still home for the Yuletide season were unaware of why there were sporadic gunshots including the explosion of dozens of canisters of suspected hand-grenades, spread a climate of fear for hundreds of thousands of citizens who were in their hometowns for the Christmas festivities.
“We wondered why innocent villagers would be subjected to such callous ordeals by soldiers who ought to be professionally trained and maintained with taxpayers funds.
“The Chief of Army Staff needs to seriously work on the aspect of civil military relations and work out modalities to win the hearts and minds of the civilian population so as to be in a position to receive actionable intelligence and avoid the use of primitive mass attack and rampage by soldiers who ought to be professionals.
“However, in going after the perpetrators, the military must operate by the rules of engagement so as not attract collateral damage of innocent citizens and residents of Aku-Okigwe.
“The military’s perpetual invasion of South-east communities has not been working. The invasion of Aku-Okigwe is not the first by the military.
The military invaded the Obeagu Community in the Ishielu Local Council of Ebonyi State in December 2022. In November, troops from Headquarters 82 Division invaded Amangu community in Abia State, causing havoc in the area.”
