The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has said that preventing insurgency and acts of terrorism in the country is the responsibility of all, not just the government.
Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA National Co-ordinator, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, during the organisation`s 2018 National Human Rights Lecture.
“All hands must be on deck, and I think everyone of us must contribute whatever we can, intellectually, by making sure that the problems associated with terrorism and the rest of them are effectively tamed.
“If you see or notice suspicious persons or movement, there are phone numbers of the military, police and other security agencies that you can call and put that information across, because information is power.
“Those people who try to destabilise our country did not come from the sky, they are people like we are who live amongst us.
“Nigerians should evolve this culture of reporting whatever they see happening around them to men and women who are professionally trained and charged with the duty of protecting lives and property,“ he said.
Onwubiko, however, called on the Federal Government to enforce the fundamental humam rights of Nigerians who had been displaced by insurgency and were in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
He alleged that many of them, especially women, were being violated sexually in camps by persons who were supposed to protest them.
“If you go to the North-East of Nigeria, going by estimates recently given by the United Nations, we have about 2,000,000 Nigerians that are displaced.
“The people who have suffered these wanton sexual violations are human beings like we are and are Nigerians which should be protected,“ he said.
He, therefore, charged the National Human Right Commission to be more upbeat and professional in handling issues relating to human right violation of IDPs.
Onwubiko also charged governments at all levels to be more proactive to prevent conflicts from taking place and terrorism from taking root.
He added that although the Federal Government was doing everything possible to address the issue of terrorism especially in the North-East, there was still much to be done to completely arrest the situation.
He noted that there was another aspect of terrorism going on in the country which he said was kidnapping.
According to him, travelling on Lokoja-Kaduna road and some other parts of the country had recently become unsafe.
He appealed to government not to allow Nigerians to return to the state of nature, adding that it was not enough to mop up arms and ammunitions in circulation but to fortify the country`s borders.
Onwubiko noted that the country`s borders were presently porous, thereby prone to arms and ammunitions importation by terrorists.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that goodwill messages were presented by representatives of the Nigeria Refugees Commission, the Nigerian Army and some other organisations.
Donations were also made for IDPs across the country and special awards were also conferred on three Human Rights activists, including Joe Ajaero.
