Groups protest at US Embassy over AI’s stand on war against terrorism

Coalition of civil society groups on Friday took to the streets of Lagos and later the United States Embassy to protest against what they termed Amnesty International’s interference in war against terrorism in the country, describing the interference as a grand ploy to frustrate the country’s security agencies.

This is just as the groups demanded that the global movement immediately keep off its “subversive operations” in Nigeria, else they would “occupy the premises of every single facility it operates from.”

The protesters, who came with various placards with inscriptions such as, “Amnesty International leave Nigeria alone to defeat Boko Haram, “Amnesty International, are you for terrorism or  war against terrorism,” “Amnesty International, Don’t demoralise our security agencies,” among others, called on the global movement to stop making statements that could fuel act of terrorism in the country.

Leader of the coalition, Mr. Abiona Desmond, who is also President-General of Progressive Citizens Congress (PCC), while addressing newsmen, said the groups embarked on the protest to express their displeasure because there was apparently a concerted effort by some external forces to make Nigeria a failed state and recent events were proof of such plot.

Desmond, who recalled that Nigeria had been faced with all manners of insurgency, lamented that it was sad to see that in all those efforts by the country to ward the menace, the common experience had been to find an NGO, called the Amnesty International, repeatedly abusing its position by doctoring reports in order exonerate the real criminals while vilifying those who were genuinely committed to fighting such criminals on behalf of the nation.