Presidency accuses IPOB of stockpiling weapons in Nigeria

The Presidency on Wednesday accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of stockpiling substantial arms and ammunition to wreak havoc across the country.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, to the President, Garba Shehu, in a statement titled: “Why Amnesty entreaties should be ignored.”

He blasted the rights watchdog for allegedly supporting IPOB.

Amnesty International had on August 5 accused Nigerian security forces of using excessive force and killing at least 115 people in a crackdown on Biafran agitators in the country.

The group claimed security forces, including the military, police and the Department of State Services (DSS) had killed dozens of gunmen, as well as civilians, where attacks had taken place in the South-East and other parts of the country.

But Shehu insisted that Amnesty International’s latest attack on Nigeria was not surprising.

The statement read: “Again, they have decided to side with terrorists, before the liberty of those they injure, displace and murder.

“Speaking the language of universal human rights, Amnesty International deploys it only in defence – even outright promotion – of those that violently oppose the Federal Government of Nigeria. Parroting the line of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, a proscribed terror organisation, they work to legitimise its cause to Western audiences.

“This puts them in bad company. Controversial American lobbyists are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to do the same, laundering IPOB’s reputation in Washington DC.

“IPOB murder Nigerian citizens. They kill police officers and military personnel and set government property on fire. Now, they have amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.

“Were this group in a western country, you would not expect to hear Amnesty’s full-throated defence of their actions. Instead, there would be silence or mealy-mouthed justification of western governments’ action to check the spread of terrorism.

“Despite Amnesty’s self-proclaimed mandate to impartially transcend borders, unfortunately in Nigeria they play only domestic politics. The international NGO is being used as cover for the organisation’s local leaders to pursue their self-interests. Regrettably, this is not uncommon in Africa.

“There is nothing wrong with an activist stance; there are claims of neutrality, when all facts point to the opposite.

“Amnesty International has no legal right to exist in Nigeria. It must open a formal investigation into the personnel that occupy their Nigerian offices. They should reject the outrageously tendentious misinformation they receive and bring some semblance of due diligence to the sources they base their claims on. Currently, we see none.

“The Nigerian government will fight terrorism with all the means at its disposal. We will ignore Amnesty’s rantings. Especially when it comes from an organisation that does not hold itself to the same standards it demands of others.”