By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Nigeria Safety and Peace Solidarity Movement (NSPSM), a civil society organisation, has accused Amnesty International (AI) of exaggerating Nigeria’s security situation in its recent report.

Mr Andrew Kato, General Secretary of NSPSM, stated this while briefing newsmen on the report on Wednesday in Abuja.

Kato said that the right information must be disseminated by any organisation or individual for peace and stability to be achieved in the country.

He faulted AIl over its claims that the Nigerian authorities had failed to protect lives and property from daily attacks by armed groups and bandits.

“NSPSM is alarmed at this report which does not reflect what is on ground at the moment.

“We are not here to speak for the military, but as Nigerians with a stake in what is happening, we make bold to say the Amnesty International report is not a true representation of efforts by the Nigerian government, especially the Armed Forces.

“One thing we find intriguing about Amnesty International in the Nigeria situation is that the organisation is blowing hot and cold.

“They will tell you that at least 10,217 people have been killed in attacks by gunmen in Benue, Edo, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara states.

“They said Benue state accounts for the highest death toll of 6,896, followed by Plateau state, where 2,630 people were killed.

“Later they will say arrested terrorists and gunmen are being denied their human rights.

“Amnesty International will say they are speaking for affected Nigerians and later come to speak for perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity,’’ he said.

Kato urged all discerning Nigerians to ask who Amnesty International is really working for and what they really want from Nigeria.

He said the group had observed overtime that Amnesty International had never at any time strongly condemned the activities of those perpetrating those crimes against innocent Nigerians.

“What is the essence of the report? Is it to raise an alarm? Cause Nigerians to begin to attack each other? Dampen troops’ morale? Or make the government and the military look incapable?

“We are confused because the AI report did not exhaustively look at what President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the Armed forces are doing to tackle the security challenges.

“We are not saying there are no issues on ground, what we are saying is that what is being done outweighs the alarm being raised by Amnesty International.

“It is unfortunate Amnesty International went to the extent of getting a one-sided interview from a resident of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara state to portray the Nigerian authorities as failures,’’ he added.

Kato said the organisation should have gone to areas where the military had been decimating the terrorists to get a balanced report if they are not hiding or desperate to achieve something in Nigeria.

He said the action of the organisation has reinforced the Nigerian authorities’ repeated accusation that some outside forces are having ulterior motives in what is happening in Nigeria.

“Globally, security challenges are intensifying as competition for political and economic benefits intensifies. However, AI is deliberately blowing the situation in our country out of proportion.

“The Armed Forces of Nigeria under the present leadership from our investigation are not folding their hands and allowing citizens to be killed.

“Much is being done to tackle the challenges. Some of the efforts of the military are not being disclosed for some reasons.

“We are using this medium to strongly condemn and reject in totality the one sided report.

“We urge Nigerians to support our troops, they are working for us. Let us collectively reject any group working to cause disharmony and deepen the security challenges in our country,’’ he stated. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Dorcas Jonah/Yakubu Uba