TheCable

The Coalition for Truth and Justice says Amnesty International failed to prove allegations of human rights abuses against the Nigerian military before the presidential panel despite hiring a team of international lawyers.

It said the group claimed it “received credible evidence that as the military regained control, more than 600 people, mostly unarmed recaptured detainees, were extra-judicially executed in various locations across Maiduguri”.

But AI’s legal team was unable to back up this allegation before the presidential panel. The coalition accused AI of “campaign of calumny” against the troops.

Abiodun Babalola, national secretary of the group, said the coalition monitored the military’s activities and found AI’s claims to be “totally false”.

It further revealed that AI lawyers relied on “ newspaper reports and news items planted in the media as it was not able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the allegations were indeed genuine”.

The Coalition for Truth and Justice asked the human rights group to “discontinue its propaganda” with immediate effect.

“Failure to do so, however, the group said would attract the full wrath of Nigerians,” it said.