Shoot-on-sight order in South East, invitation to extra-judicial killings – Igbo group

 

Igbo think-tank group, Nzuko Umunna, has petitioned the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, asking him to clear the air on alleged shoot-on-sight directive issued to soldiers in the south east region of Nigeria.

Nzuko Umunna said such an order given in a hush-hush manner and for which new batches of military men were moved to the region over the weekend was “tantamount to an order to extra-judicially exterminate innocent citizens”.

In the open letter dated May 11, 2021, and copied to the Chief of Defence Staff, Minister of Defence, Chief of Staff to the President, strategic international organisations, including the United Nations and Human Rights International and also the embassies of the United States, UK, France and Russia, the group said it felt duty-bound “to inform you that there is palpable fear” over a Shoot-On-Sight directive reportedly given to Army troops in the South East” in recent days.

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“By some accounts, this directive seems to have been given unofficially in a hush-hush manner, making the situation all the more ominous.

“A Shoot-On- Sight directive is tantamount to an order to extra-judicially exterminate innocent citizens as there is no telling who might be part of the collateral, unintended casualties.  Throughout history, such military strategies or policies have always run the risk of going contrary to all accepted conventions and protocols on the rules of engagement, particularly the Rome Statutes. In fact, it can be read as Genocide where as in this case, there is clear and evident danger of such action resulting in high casualties.

“If the speculation of a Shoot-On-Sight order were to bear any atom of truth, then it amounts to a declaration of war on the area.  However, even if, for any reason, the Federal Government is minded to declare war on the South East or a part of it, there are standard international conventions and protocols that must be observed. One of such is the requirement to publicly and unambiguously declare that a war situation has arisen in such a place so that those who wish to, especially the civilians and innocent citizens, can withdraw from such a place. That, has not been done.

“But it is our well-considered contention that there do not exist in the South East of Nigeria any peculiar situation which does not exist in even worse forms in other parts of the country to warrant or justify such a Shoot-On-Sight order.

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“And we put whoever thinks to the contrary to the strictest of proof,” Nzuko Umunna observed.

The group, in the letter issued on its behalf, by Dr N. Odumuko and Dr P. Mbanefo, consequently urged the Chief of Army Staff to use his good offices to not only clear the air on the said directive but also counter any such order in case it had been given.

“We most respectfully urge you to use your good offices to intervene, as a matter of urgency, in this very critical matter to douse the tension and apprehension in the region arising from rumours and the expectation that the killings and unnecessary waste of human lives will escalate.

“We are by this letter bringing this properly to your notice with the hope you will take pre-emptory action,” the letter concluded.