By Oboh Agbonkhese

The Amnesty International’s report on the military in the fight against Boko Haram has been described as demoralising and a mockery of the country.

Community Agenda for Peace, CAP, gave the verdict yesterday at a briefing on the Amnesty report, which claimed that the military was committing war crimes with the death of over 8,000 people since the campaign against insurgency began.

CAP National Coordinator and Publisher of The Mandate Monitor, Mr. Obueshi Phillips, told newsmen in Lagos that for Amnesty International to call for senior military commanders to be investigated for “participating, sanctioning or failing to prevent the deaths of more than 8,000 people murdered, starved, suffocated and tortured to death” was demoralising at a time everyone needed to get behind the military.

He said: “While not absolving the Nigerian Army of whatever accusations of human rights abuse they may have been involved in, in sifting through a crowd of civilians and terrorists, we frown at the double standard being employed by Amnesty in their advocacy for the protection of human rights worldwide.”

It will be recalled that Amnesty International, on June 3, under the title Nigeria: Stars on their shoulders. Blood on their hands: War crimes committed by the Nigerian military, claimed on its website that in fighting Boko Haram, Nigerian military forces have extra-judicially executed more than 1,200 people, arbitrarily arrested about 20,000, committed countless acts of torture and effected “enforced disappearance” with 7,000 dead in military detention.