Civil Rights Group Blames UN For Persecution of Christian in Nigeria
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has carpeted the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over his support for rehabilitation, reintegration and granting of pardon by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for detained Islamic terrorists.
HURIWA said the support is given to this irregular and unconstitutional handling of terrorists by President Muhammadu Buhari as made known during the whistle-stop visit to Nigeria by the UN Secretary-General Mr Antonio Gutterres provided more fire and motivation for Boko haram and ISWAP terrorists to escalate their targeted attacks on Christians believing that if and whenever they are caught the Nigerian President will grant them pardon with the international support now provided by the UN system through the person of the Secretary-General.
The Rights group said it was shocked that despite the red flag given by ECOWAS on the Nigerian government’s unwillingness to stop terrorism financing through the Nigerian Financial system as revealed by the Economic Community of West African States, the UN Secretary-General Mr Antonio Gutterres went ahead to applaud the unconstitutional decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to continuously grant pardon to detained Islamic terrorists under its faulty reintegration policy in the North East of Nigeria.
HURIWA recalled that the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa, established by the Economic Community of West African States, says Boko Haram splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province, moved about N18bn ($36m) generated from trading and taxing communities in the Lake Chad region through the Nigerian financial system annually.
READ ALSO: News: UN speaks on Boko Haram attacks, terrorism in Nigeria, Central Africa
The group, set up by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in 2000, stated that both Boko Haram and ISWAP had continued to mobilise, move and utilise funds through the nation’s formal financial and commercial system.
HURIWA in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko recalled that the aforementioned ECOWAS group noted that the government lacked adequate insight into Boko Haram and ISWAP international linkages and abuse of the formal financial and commercial sectors.
It said even though the Department of State Services had a significant ability to identify and investigate terrorist financing activity, and that it even conducts parallel financial and terrorism investigations, there was little evidence of the effectiveness of such efforts.
The group, known as GIABA, stated these in its 2021 Mutual Evaluation Report, where it also noted that Nigeria lacked an explicit policy to confiscate proceeds of crime or property of equivalent value, including terrorism financing.
HURIWA said even with the aforementioned mentioned abundant evidence of the collusion of the Federal government with terrorists in Nigeria, the United Nations Secretary-General backed the release without trials of terrorists by President Muhammadu Buhari.
HURIWA has therefore asked both the UN Secretary-General and President Muhammadu Buhari to shut up and stop the empty political rhetorics over the bloody attacks by Islamic terrorists a few days ago on a packed Catholic Church in Owo Ondo State just as the Rights group criticised the UN Secretary-General for failing to meet Christian leaders in Nigeria so he can directly visit some of the Churches destroyed by Islamists since the last 7 years but rather he applauded the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for treating Terrorists with kid’s gloves.
