The Actions and inaction of the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government, the Nigerian Army and the South-East Governors over the deployment of troops to Abia State and by extension; Igbo land is provocative and therefore, leaves much to be desired, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has said.
Through a statement issued on Monday in Onitsha by the South-East Zone of the CLO, signed by its Zonal Chairman, Comrade Aloysius Attah, and Zonal Treasurer, Comrade Pedro Azuogu Esq., the organisation said, the South-East is not at war and prior to the deployment of troops and armoured tanks into Abia and other states, “we had warned against the militarisation of the zone, noting that such moves instead of providing security will further aggravate and escalate agitations and tensions thereby producing a negative effect.”
It pointed out that “the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended specifically outline the composition, roles, command and operational rule of the Armed Forces in Section 217 and 218 with its accompanying subsections.
“The duties of the Army as clearly spelt out in Section 217 (2) (a)(b)( c) clearly state that ‘The Federation shall subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip, and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of (a) defending Nigeria from external aggression, (b) maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land , sea or air,(c) suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do by the President but subject to the conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly and (D) performing other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.’
“Going by the various constitutional provisions, it is clear that the Army has been acting in complete violation of the constitution of the country by not only usurping the functions of the Police as stated also in section 215 (3) of the same 1999 constitution but also visiting some communities and people of the South-East with brute force leaving in their trail, sorrows, tears and blood.
“President Buhari and the Army cannot claim to love the people of the South-East more than they love themselves. The people have not cried out to the FG to save them from any uncontainable situation in recent times and neither were there any far reaching consultations before the launch of the Operation Python Dance 2.
“Several Igbo groups have stated their position rejecting the siege of the South-East in the name of Python Dance but the Federal Government and the Army still insisted on carrying on with the operation.”
The CLO also said, “It has now become clearer to all and sundry that the launch of Operation Python Dance was simply a decoy for the invasion of the South-East by soldiers with a premeditated plan of not only annihilating the IPOB members and their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu but to rapaciously commit bloodshed of another unimaginable magnitude against the Igbo.
“In a constitutional democracy, the military onslaught in Abia State and various cases of brutality, torture and other forms of dehumanising treatments meted on unarmed citizens of Nigeria are crimes against humanity and such perpetrators can never go unpunished.
“We say no to the Army of Occupation and subtle genocide going on in Igbo land. The CLO unreservedly condemns in its entirety these military actions and hereby call for the intervention of the International Community over these anomalies. Stop the siege in the South East and withdraw the soldiers immediately.”
The CLO also declared military classification of IPOB as a terrorist organisation as illogical, stressing: “It is the position of the CLO, South-East one that the Nigerian military and by extension, Buhari led administration has ridiculed the country among the comity of nations globally by its pronouncement of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra as a terrorist organization.
“The provisions are clear under the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended in 2013) whose duty and procedures to follow in declaring a group as terrorists.
“The reasons listed by the Director, Defence Information of the Nigerian Army, Major General John Enenche, for the classification of IPOB as a terrorist organisation makes the whole statement more laughable and ridiculous.
“The activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra are covered by the provisions of the
