The leading civil Rights advocacy group \u2013 HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS
\nASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the reported gruesome
\nkillings of nine soldiers by suspected armed bandits in Zamfara even as
\nthe group reasserts her total rejection of the negotiations by Northern
\ngovernors with armed bandits in Zamfara, Katsina and Niger states.<\/p>\n
HURIWA directly links the killings of soldiers by armed bandits to the
\natmosphere of illegality, anarchy and impunity created by the
\nnegotiations and decision to grant amnesty to armed mass killers by some
\nNorthern state governors. The group said it was absolutely wrong to
\npermit a situation whereby armed freelance hoodlums are treated like
\nsacred cows which has now snowballed into the mindless slaughter of our
\narmed soldiers trained professionally with huge public and tax payers’
\nfund. The Rights group said the killings must never be swept under the
\ncarpet.<\/p>\n
Describing the negotiations and granting of amnesty to armed bandits as
\nan affront to the Nigerian constitution, the Rights group absolutely
\ncondemns the killing of soldiers by armed bandits even as the Rights
\ngroup has tasked the Zamfara state governor and federal government to
\narrest, prosecute and punish the killers of the soldiers.<\/p>\n
“Negotiating with criminals under any guise by state governors is
\ntantamount to defecating openly on top of the Nigerian constitution and
\nthe fact that the cocktails of coordinated mass killings by armed
\nbandits in parts of Zamfara state and other northern states have
\ncontinued unabated shows that it is foolhardy for elected officials to
\nfail to enforce relevant laws against terrorism and mass murders. HUMAN
\nRIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA hereby calls on Nigerians of
\ngoodwill to speak up in rejection of the institutionalization of
\nimpunity and official recklessness exhibited in the ongoing negotiations
\nwith armed bandits by northern governors”.<\/p>\n
“We demand that the Zamfara state government be compelled to pay #100
\nmillion compensation each to all the soldiers killed by armed bandits in
\nZamfara state.”<\/p>\n
HURIWA recalled that armed bandits killed nine soldiers in an attack
\nlast weekend in an area of northwest Nigeria reportedly wracked by
\ncattle rustling and kidnappings.<\/p>\n
HURIWA citing available reports stated that dozens of gunmen on
\nmotorcycles last weekend stormed a military post in the remote village
\nof Sunke in Zamfara state and opened fire, the sources said maintaining
\nthat “We lost nine soldiers,” a senior military officer in the state
\ncapital Gusau, told AFP.<\/p>\n
HURIWA recalled that residents said the bandits attacked the troops to
\navenge the killing of their comrades after the military raided their
\ncamps in a nearby forest. The incident happened despite an existing
\ntruce between the gangs and the regional government, they said even as
\nSunke, which lies 140 kilometers (85 miles) from the regional capital
\nGusau, is a notorious enclave for armed gangs who are camped out in the
\nsurrounding forest.<\/p>\n
Relatedly, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has
\nthrown its weight behind the just launched nationwide military exercises
\nby the Nigerian Army just as the Rights group urged Nigerians to support
\nthe Nigerian Army to battle the upsurge in terrorism and criminality and
\nby the same token, the Rights group has urged the military hierarchy to
\nadhere strictly to human rights provisions as enshrined in chapter four
\nof the Nigerian constitution.<\/p>\n
“We are hopeful that the chief of Army staff lieutenant General Tukur
\nYusuf Buratai who has clearly demonstrated his disdain for violations of
\nhuman rights will ensure the respect of the human rights of Nigerians.”<\/p>\n
HURIWA has disclosed that it will be on ground in the South East of
\nNigeria to observe the enforcement and implementation of the military
\nexercises just as it appealed for public support for the Army to rid the
\nSouth East of Nigeria of kidnappers and armed hoodlums threatening the
\npeace and stability of the region.<\/p>\n
The leading civil Rights advocacy group \u2013 HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has condemned the reported gruesome killings of nine soldiers by suspected armed bandits in Zamfara even…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n