New Telegraph

FG: ICC, Amnesty Int’l amplifies Nigeria’s insecurity

The Nigerian government, yesterday, warned some international organisations against undue interference on issues of national security, saying that no amount of blackmail will compel it to surrender the country’s sovereignty to any foreign body.

 

The Federal Government, which spoke through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at a press conference in Lagos, listed the world bodies, which it termed as another “fighting force” against Nigeria to include the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Amnesty International. Mohammed accused the international bodies of aggravating the security challenges facing the country.

 

The minister insisted that Nigeria did not join the ICC so that she can become a pawn on the court’s chessboard and, therefore, warned the court to stop colluding with Amnesty International to worsen the challenges facing the country in the area of security through constant harassing of security forces and threatening them with investigation and possible prosecution over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

He also warned some individuals bent on portraying the country as a failing state on the strength of its security challenges, saying doomsday predictions about Nigeria will not come to pass. According to him, Nigeria will not become a failed state, but will rise to become a more respected member of the comity of nations. This is as the minister noted that the Federal Government has not said it is going to order another COVID-19 lockdown, but decried that most Nigerians are not adhering to protocols in the wake of the spike in cases of the virus across the country.

 

His words: “Let me say straight away that Nigeria is fending off attacks on many fronts, not just from terrorists and bandits, but also from some human rights organisations and the ICC, which seem to have colluded to exacerbate the challenges facing the country in the area of security. “While our security agencies continue to battle these bandits and terrorists, ICC and some international human rights organizations, especially Amnesty International, have constituted themselves to another ‘fighting force’ against Nigeria, constantly harassing our security forces and threatening them with investigation and possible prosecution over alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

Unfortunately, a section of the local media has been parroting these organisations without weighing the impact of their constant threats on the security of the nation.

 

“The Federal Government frowns at this unbridled attempt to demoralise our security men and women as they confront the onslaught from bandits and terrorists. Nigeria did not join ICC so it can become a pawn on the court’s chessboard. It beggars belief to see that a nation that is fighting an existential war against bandits and terrorists is constantly being held down by an international    body, which it willingly joined.

 

“Nigeria is a sovereign state and will not surrender its sovereignty to any organisation. ICC, Amnesty International and their cohorts should desist from threatening our troops and putting the security of our country in jeopardy. Enough is enough. “It is sad that these organisations mostly rely on fake news and disinformation to reach their conclusions, as witnessed during the #EndSARS protests.”

 

On the tag of Nigeria as a failing state, the minister said: “Recently, some jaundiced analysts and their lapdogs have sought to portray Nigeria as a failing state, on the strength of its security challenges.

But these analysts are dead wrong. Nigeria is not and cannot be a failing or failed state. “Of course, you would remember that for the past two decades or so, some pseudo-analysts have been predicting the country’s implosion. That has not happened; hence they have found a new tag line: Failing or failed state!

 

It’s all a ruse aimed at depicting Nigeria as being in a constant state of anarchy, just so they can achieve their nefarious objectives for the country. “If Nigeria was not a ‘failing’ state when a large slice of its territory equivalent to the size of Belgium was under the occupation of Boko Haram, which col-

 

 

lected taxes, installed and deposed emirs, is it now that no territory is under the terrorists that Nigeria will be a failing state?

 

“If Nigeria was not a failed state when bombs were raining on towns and cities in Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Borno, Yobe, Federal Capital Territory and other states, is it now that such bombings have stopped that Nigeria will be described as a ‘failing’ state?

 

If Nigeria was not a ‘failing’ state in those years that Christian and Muslim worshippers had to be screened to even enter their places of worship, is it now that the siege on places of worship has ceased that Nigeria will be described as a ‘failing’ state?” Mohammed noted that it was sad that some Nigerians have forgotten where the nation was in terms of the state of insecurity a few years back.

 

According to him, the fact that another Christmas and New Year have been celebrated without a rain of bombs as witnessed in 2010, 2011 and 2012, is a testimony to the progress government has made in tackling terrorism. On the economy, the minister said Nigeria recorded positive economic developments in 2020, but these seem to have been overshadowed by the recession she entered into towards the end of the year.

 

He, however, assured that the recession would be short-lived and Nigeria will return to positive growth soon, unlike the 2016 recession, which lasted five quarters.

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