Military deserves commendation not condemnation, says NDA commandant

The Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy who is a former General Officer Commanding 7 Division Maiduguri, Major General Ibrahim Manu Yusuf, has said that the Reuters report indicting the military of gross human rights infractions in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East is weighty, false, malicious and ill-intended adding that the Nigerian Military deserves commendation, not condemnation.

Testifying before the Justice Abdu Aboki-led Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North-East, the former GOC said the military operates in a community where it interacts with different categories of stakeholders, including personnel of United Nations who could have noticed and reported any human rights violations from the outset.

A statement on Friday by Fatimah Mohammed read in part, “Continuing, the commandant of the NDA said the people in the communities would also not keep quiet and watch such atrocities happen without hinting the appropriate authorities.”

It quoted the commandant as saying “The former leader of the Joint Multinational Task Force further stated that the military is a regimented institution that pays particular attention to every detail in relating with people. Expressing disappointment in the Reuters report, the army officer said it was unimaginable for anyone to think that the military could kill rescued children for any reason. He pointed out that the military has celebrated the naming ceremony of children fathered by Boko Haram.”

This, he said, was in addition to other gestures from the military, including providing rams and buying clothes for the christening of children of Boko Haram members born in its custody, noting that if it wanted to exterminate them, it would have killed the women when they were pregnant.

The Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Borno State Ministry of Justice, Garba Musa Chibok, who earlier appeared before the seven-man panel, said it was unreasonable for anyone to fabricate baseless stories. He challenged the panel to invite Reuters for questioning.