‘You’re demonic, leave Nigeria within 24-hours,’ protesters tell rights group

Protesters on the platform of Global Peace and Rescue Initiative (GOPRI), have sued a 24-hour ultimatum to human rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI) to depart Nigeria.

The protesters who barricaded Amnesty International’s Abuja office on Monday, March 20, 2017, condemned the recent report by AI which alleged human rights abuses by Nigerian security agencies against arrested Boko Haram suspects.

Addressing protesters, director of GOPRI, Melvin Ejeh announced that if the human rights organisation does not shut down its operations and leave Nigeria, the group and other Nigerians shall begin a five-day ‘Occupy Amnesty International Protest at the office in Abuja.’

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Ejeh noted that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Global Amnesty Watch have condemned the recent report by Amnesty International which alleged human rights abuses by Nigerian security agencies against arrested Boko Haram suspects.

“The deliberate attempt by the amnesty international to indict the security agencies working day and night to restore peace in troubles parts of the country without condemning the heinous crimes committed by Boko Haram terrorists proves that the international organization has ulterior motives,” Ejeh said.

"Previous calls by concerned groups for the government to kick Amnesty International out of Nigeria for the safety of citizens have gone unheeded. Unfortunately, if this organization is allowed to continue carrying out its atrocities here it will destabilize Nigeria.

"Unlike our leaders, most of us do not have the resources to relocate our loved ones to other lands if Amnesty International succeeds in ruining this nation. Like the victims of AI's operation in the Middle-East we would be left without a country and we would not be welcomed in other nations. We will become mere footnotes in its next annual report since it stops showing interest in places it has successfully destroyed," he added.

He stated that recent revelation by Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, indicated that Israel used Amnesty International as a front for its foreign ministry.

Ejeh said: “According to Haaretz, 'The documents reveal how some heads of Amnesty International Israel were allegedly in regular contact with the Foreign Ministry from the late 1960s to the mid -1970s, reporting on their activity in real time, consulting with officials and taking instructions from them.

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"The Amnesty office in Israel received regular funds transferred through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which reportedly included hundreds of Israeli pounds for flights abroad, per diem allowances, registration fees and dues payments to the organization's headquarters, according to the papers.

"This in our consideration is not the right approach to dealing with this demonic entity. Its evil contaminates any country it chooses to work against. Its destructive touch leaves countries in failed state," he added.

He maintained that Nigerian authorities might not be unaware Amnesty International’s ‘evil machinations’ adding that they may have opted to treat it with diplomatic considerations.