The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to use the same force being deployed against the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on herdsmen wreaking havoc all over the country.
The group in a statement issued on Sunday by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, charged President Muhammadu Buhari, against, “using the armed security forces to attack alleged adversaries that share no Ethno-Religious affiliations with the President but has so far failed to direct and ensure that the armed forces confront the armed Fulani herdsmen wreaking havoc all over the country including the recent attacks targeting Tiv farm settlement in Nasarawa State and parts of Benue State in which dozens of citizens were killed”.
HURIWA also criticised the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, for “hasty conclusion on those responsible for the attacks that targeted strategic national security assets in the region.”
According to HURIWA, it is a huge disservice to blame the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) “without any “forensic investigations with the then Police boss blamed the IPOB amid statement from the group dismissing the IGP’s claim”.
Onwubiko also lamented that the attack on Imo correctional center was not properly investigated.
This came in the wake of an invasion of Awo-Omama in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State by security forces which led to the killing of an alleged commander of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and six other armed militias, while several others were arrested.
Allegations have been rife that the commander was the alleged mastermind behind several attacks on security personnel in the South East including the recent invasion of Imo correctional centre in Owerri which led to the release of about 1,800 inmates.
“We have severally called for the creation of an independent Ombudsman that will be charged with the investigation of all use of lethal force to ascertain that the armed forces are not using those maximum force arbitrarily and in a way that is unconstitutional’, HURIWA stated.
