...asks UN to conduct Independent Investigation
Nigeria Voters Watch and Diplomacy (NVW) has accused Deputy- Secretary of the United Nations, Ambassador Amina Mohammed, and her acolytee of spreading half truths and unfounded narratives about ongoing genocide in Benue , Plateau and Southern Kaduna regions of Nigeria.
The group in a statement issued by its Chairman, Comrade Emmanuel Isaac Osagie lamented that the Nigeria state has failed to effectively tackle criminal genocide against the peoples of Benue , Plateau and Southern Kaduna demanding Independent Investigation by the United Nations into issues of genocide in the areas.
"We have watched with consternation the half-truths and unfounded narratives being churned out by the United Nations and some global platforms, the group said in a statement released to journalists yesterday.
"These false narratives are being promoted by the Deputy- Secretary of the United Nations, Ambassador Amina Mohammed, and her acolytes.
"She has consistently suppressed stories , reports, and countless complaints brought by the civil society groups and other stakeholders and has consistently dismissed genocide as farmer- herder's crisis.
"In her naïveté, she believes that the indigenous peoples of these areas are merely hostile to climate change and are being intolerant of the Fulani herdsmen. This is far from the truth and thus, a deliberate obfuscation of the issues on ground.
"We respectfully call on the United Nations and, most especially, the General Secretary to conduct an independent investigation into the situation in Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna, the group said in the statement.
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The group added that the Federal government of Nigeria has allowed the security apparatus of state to be politicized and skewed towards sectional interest.
According to the statement, the Nigeria state has failed to act decisively and proactively. They have allowed the cohesive apparatus of state to be politicized and skewed towards sectional interest that promotes ethnic and religious hegemony, bigotry, and unbridled supremacy.
The group kicked against claims that the crisis in the areas was as a result of global climate change .
Nigeria Voters Watch said in the statement that "Climate change is an important subject matter that has stirred concerns not only in Nigeria but in Benue, Plateau and Southern Kaduna. The indigenous people have witnessed the changing weather pattern culminating in receding rain water, dry rivers, and streams.
"This has even a major source of concerns to the teeming population of Nigeria, including the suffering people of Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna who are desperate for a solution to the growing global consensus on climate change. Therefore it is ludicrous and preposterous to label the indigenous people of these areas as anti- climate change."
