Former Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. Gen. Abdulwahab Mohammed Dikko, said Nigerian military are professionals who remain focused is thier assigned tasks.
Dikko made this known on Wednesday while testifying before the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations.
Dikko who ruled out any foul play on the part of the military with regard to Reuters’ allegation of 10,000 abortion of pregnancies, infanticide and other Sexual and Gender Based Violence, said the report lacked credibility.
Dikko said there was no reason for the Nigerian military to further push the already vulnerable population in the North East to further agony by engaging in the alleged atrocities and human rights violations.
Dikko who was also the Director Peacekeeping Operation in the Nigerian Army, stated that it only takes a fake operative in military uniform to wreak the magnitude of havoc and human rights violation alleged in Reuters’ report.
“I want to lend credence to this possibility because one of the intentions of the insurgents is to turn the people against the institutions of the government such as the military that is being investigated today, to discredit the Nigerian military in order to get support from their international partners, today we hear of Boko Haram paying allegiance to ISWAP”, he added.
Buttressing his point, the former Commander Nigerian Army Training Centre, maintained that Nigeria Military is highly professional and have participated and is still participating in various peacekeeping operations and it has never been found wanting in any form but rather continued to receive commendations and awards for robust and professional military operations.
Asked by the Secretary of the panel who also double as a counsel for the panel if he ever heard alleged abortion programme by the Nigerian government and executed by the military, he said “I did not take any interest in Reuter’s allegation and I have not heard about any abortion programme allegedly facilitated by the military”.
Further testifying before the panel, he said our officers are not capable of participating in the alleged abortion programme, pointing out that “the military operation in the North East was conceived as a stabilization operation and significant successes have been made in liberating civilians from Boko Haram captivity.
He listed some of the communities of the where the civilian populace were assisted by the military to return included Damasak, Kukawa , Baga and Monguno.
“This marked the takeover of the communities and grand breaking ceremony was organised leading to the voluntary return of people from the various IDPs camps back to their original inhabitants”, he stated.
He also denied any possibility of revenge on citizens despite the pressure on the military in the theatre of operations, insisting that the professional nature of the Nigerian military does not permit any room for revenge as a result of any kind of stress associated with military operation.
“That is why soldiers enjoy two-week break every three months to enable them to unwind or travel and meet their family members and in the process they officially are provided with transport allowance to enable them to return to duty to continue to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria”, he said.
He stressed that the fight against the insurgency may continue to have some setback unless the people are involved in the process of addressing the insurgency, which he stated does not only require military operation.
He opined that the programme of returning people to their ancestral community upon return of peace in such communities has encouraged over 80,000 people to come out from the enclave of the Boko Haram insurgents.
On the issue of discipline, the retired General said at the level of the theatre command, there is a standing court of inquiry and there are mechanisms for discipline and this is inborn in the military, so any act of human rights violation is highly prohibited.
“The court even hear cases of immediate concern so that they do not affect the troop and there were no cases of murder or manslaughter”, he said.
Asked by a team of military counsel comprising Abdulwahab Muhammed, SAN (lead counsel), Musa Kallah Mohammed and A.M. Adogi if the military has a standing rule during operations and to which the Officers and Soldiers are conversant with, he answered in the affirmative saying that the military operatives carry out their assignments in line with the standard practice.
