Members of the Panel at the Theatre Command Headquarters in Maiduguri
The Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in the Counter Insurgency operations in the North East (SIIP-NE), has arrived Maiduguri for its assignment.
The panel was constituted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) following allegations by a foriegn media against the military operations in North East.
The panel Chairman, Justice Abdu Aboki who visited the Theatre Command Headquarters of Operation Hadin Kai in Maiduguri with his team, solicited the cooperation of the command towards unraveling the truth in the allegations of rights violations against the Nigerian military.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of NHRC, Chief Tony Ojukwu, said that the military’s cooperation was needed to clear the air and establish the true position of things regarding the said allegations.
In his response, the Deputy Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, Maj. Gen. Koko Akamba, who assured the cooperation of the military, said that the military remain committed to it assigned task and would not be distracted by spurious allegations.
Akamba said that the theatre command would render all the necessary cooperation needed to unravel the truth concerning the allegations .
In his remarks, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Maj. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, said that the military would do it best to ease the task of the panel.
Shaibu said that the military has done a lot in the protection of the lives of civilian populace affected by insurgency in the North East region.
It could be recalled that in December 2021, the Nigerian Armed Forces came under serious allegations of abortion of pregnancies, infanticide and other forms of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) by Reuters, a foreign media organisation.
