LONDON – The Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group (UK Chapter) has threatened legal action against the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) over what it described as attempt by the commission to blackmail the Nigerian Army and impose an Islamic caliphate in the country.
The UK representative of the Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group, Mr. Adeka Onyilo, conveyed their stand against IHRC’s submission to ICC.
Onyilo in a statement made available to Sundiata Post yesterday by the Head of communications, Nigeria in Diaspora, UK, Mr. Richard Adewusi, recalled that the IHRC had in its report on the Army-Shiite Clash claimed that over 1000 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiite sect were killed during last December clash with the military in Zaria.
He said that “patriotic Nigerians will not sit and watch while the Islamic rights group tries to blackmail the Nigerian Army, discredit the Federal Government of Nigeria and stigmatise the citizens as people with no respect for rule of law”.
Onyilo, who is a British-born Nigerian, said the group has followed the development back at home with keen interest and wondered why prominent Nigerians trained with Nigeria’s resources could have become members of such groups used to blackmail the Nigerian government.
He said “claims by the ICHR that at least 1,000 unarmed civilians mostly IMN members were killed by gunshots attributed to soldiers shows how desperate they are to peddle lies against the Nigerian State.”
He lambasted the ICHR for peddling fake figures of death casualties in a futile attempt to attract sympathy in international arena.
The group expressed surprise that “while the Shiite sect terrorised Zaria residents and flagrantly disobeyed constituted authority and while the Boko Haram terrorists killed thousands of Nigerians, the ICHR never raised a voice to condemn their actions”.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
According to Onyilo, this is a clear sign that the group is sympathetic to the Boko Haram terrorists and also called on security agencies to keep close watch on their activities.
He said: “Nigerians in Diaspora are still wondering why it took this so-called ICHR this long years of hibernation to comment on the numerous atrocities of Boko Haram which is the militant wing of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria or to visit the numerous families at the IDPs camps who have been rendered homeless, sick, helpless and begging for God to see the next day under the cruel hardship that they have been faced with.
“The Nigerians in Diapsora will challenge them and their sponsors at the International Criminal Court of Justice for the whole world to know the truth and not to give in to the criminal conspiracy to undermine the Nigerian State at any point in time.”
According to him, like any responsible nation with respect for human rights and sanctity of life, the Nigerian government has dutifully instituted a commission of inquiry to look into the altercations between the terrorists group and the Nigerian Army, a move which he said has been saluted by various international organisations.
