The Defence Headquarters on Saturday dismissed the report of the International Criminal Court, ICC which accused the military of war crimes in its fight against Boko Haram as biased, subjective and unacceptable.
It said that the ICC reached its conclusions without hearing from the Nigerian military, thus compromising the objectivity of its report.
The ICC which accused the military of arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and execution of Boko Haram suspects also alleged attacks on civilian populations by the Army as well as recruitment of child soldiers through government backed militia, the Civilian JTF.
The ICC also alleged that " more than 7,000 people reportedly died in military detention since March 2011 due to illness, poor condition and overcrowding of detention facilities, torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions."
However, Defense spokesman Col Rabe Abubakar in his response to the allegations said that the Nigerian military deserves commendation for its contributions to global peace and security rather than blackmail.
His words ;
“The Nigerian military conducts its operations to protect Nigerians and the nation’s territorial integrity; it is constitutionally empowered to protect lives, property as well as protect the sanctity of its territories against both internal and external aggression in whatever form and under whatever guise.
“The Nigerian military operates within laws, codes of conduct and rules of engagement to execute operations in line with the best global military standards; our officers and men have steadfastly been serving our nation and making huge sacrifices, especially against the activities of Boko Haram terrorists and our citizens are happy with the successes recorded.
“Moreover, there was no iota of accusatory evidence from any Nigerian individual, organisation or group against our forces.
“It is apt to put it on record straightaway that even when we were accused of human rights violation, no iota of allegation comes from Nigerians but from external interests or those who stand as proxy for such interests.
“We constituted a powerful committee and invited the human right group to serve but they declined.
“So this report is unacceptable, biased and one-sided as our views were never sought; it is based on mere hearsay which does not hold water in any court of law.
“Therefore, the Nigerian military which has high respect for law is not in agreement with this one-sided subjective and biased judgement, especially as there was no fairness exhibited at all.
“We will not be deterred in putting in our best to end this menace no matter the blackmail or propaganda from whatever source.”
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