NBA Urges Buratai To Withdraw Troops From S/East

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, has called on the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai to immediately redeploy troops deployed to the state under Operation Python Dance II.

The NBA Chairman, Nnamdi Eluwa, briefing newsmen, said the security situation in the state did not warrant an operation of that scale.

He said recent clashes between members of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in Aba made a reconsideration of the operation pertinent.

Eluwa said that the Army risked losing value and worth in the minds of the society if the soldiers in Abia were not withdrawn and redeployed.

He said his branch of the NBA will not support any enterprise that would violate the fundamental human rights of the.

“It is our position that there is no security threat in Umuahia and its environs to warrant the deployment of soldiers to intimidate and molest innocent Nigerians who are going about their lawful business.

“We condemn in strong terms the unfortunate attack on journalists in Umuahia and raiding of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat by officers of Nigerian Army on Sept. 12.

“The attack on members of the NUJ by the Army to say the least is an attack on the people of Abia,” he said.

Buratai ordered the deployment of men of the 82 Division, covering the five states of the south east.

At the time,  a press statement signed by Major-General DD Ahmadu, Chief of Training and Operations, Nigerian Army said “it is pertinent to mention that Operation Egwu Eke II is set to be another epoch-making exercise that would make the nation proud of the Nigerian Army’s determination at sustaining its constitutional role of defending the territorial integrity of the nation as well as its commitment to aid the civil authority to bring about peace and security in the southeastern part of the country,”

Several reports and videos emanating from the region, paint a gory picture of citizens attacking army vehicles and personnel torturing agitators, with some dead.