A Non Governmental Organization, the God Bless Nigeria Group, has chided the Amnesty International for undermining the Nigerian Military campaign against terrorism in the North East.
The Group cautioned that “the need for civilian support for Nigerian military cannot be downplayed at this point in time”.
Speaking during a solidarity rally in support of the Nigerian Army Operations in Abuja, the Assistant Coordinator of the NGO, Theresa Tekena, said that the Nigerian Armed Forces have made huge sacrifices to protect the nation.
She observed that at a time like this when the country is battling insurgency and other security challenges, the citizens should rally round the Military to succeed than engaging in actions that will rather distract and dampen their morale.
According to her, “we just want to pass on our huge gratitude to the Nigerian Armed Forces for the sacrifices they make on a daily basis on behalf of the nation. Our men and women in uniform are bravely putting themselves in harm’s way in service to our country. We cannot let them down. We need to support them, reduce the pull Down syndrome approach and engage in constructive criticism to boost their morale”.
She continued that, “at a time like this when we are faced with the challenge of fighting terrorism, we have to give the Nigerian military the confidence they require when they go to battle. Terrorism is not conventional warfare, thus, has never been easy to defeat anywhere in the world.
“We are proud of the Nigerian military. Under this administration, the army started manufacturing its own vehicles using 70% local content and indigenous technology and human resources. That’s a great achievement.
“We are also using this medium to call on the military to intensity efforts to end insurgency in the country. Also, the Amnesty international should stop undermining Nigerian Military campaign against terrorism in the North East.
“The need for civilian support for Nigerian military cannot be downplayed at this point in time. We want to appreciate the Federal Government for the support that they provide for the military.
“Once again, we thank the Nigerian Army for the service that they perform to keep our country safe each and every day”.
In his speech, the Chief of Defence Civil Military Cooperation, Rear Admiral Obed Ngalabak, said that the Military has continued to carry out their legitimate obligation of protecting the country and won’t be distracted.
He said, “now I want to tell Nigerians that we have continued to do what we have always done. If we cast our minds back to 2014 when this country was besieged by a lot of criminals who called themselves Boko Haram and other names and that about 14 Local Government Areas in the North East were under the control of this group, governance was not possible, people could not go about their normal businesses and trades, life was not easy.
“People left their home lands and went into other places but as it is today, there is return to peace and order in those places in the North East. Governance is going on as usual, people are going about their normal business activities.
“We know that there are skirmishes and at times we had incidences that take place as normal things that are happening and we are contending with this as we speak.
“In the North East, we have moved from total chaos to normalcy in some level. In the North West, we have our troops there fighting banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities under operation Hadarin Daji.
“In the North Central, we have issues of cultism and kidnapping which are being handled by operation whirl stroke for sometimes now. You know that at some point, people could not go to their farms, people could not travel and things were difficult but now normalcy has mostly returned to those places.
“In the South-South, we have operation Delta Safe because before now, we are all aware of people who are doing oil bunkering, cultism and so many other things. But now, we have normalcy as well in the South
Nigerians should understand that we are not sleeping and we are doing our best and we will continue to do our best to make sure that normal life returns to everywhere.
“We appreciate your support, we will continue to do our best and we thank you and look forward to better time”.