HURIWA claimed that the military's method of blocking the entire stretch of federal highway from Okigwe in Imo State to Lokpanta in Abia State on December 31, 2022, and leaving travellers stranded for hours while soldiers set ablaze neighbouring villages, violated the rules of engagement in internal security operations.
HURIWA's National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, condemned the abduction of the female soldier by gunmen on December 26, 2022, while she was visiting her grandmother.
The rights group challenged agents working inside the intelligence community to apprehend the perpetrators of the unrelenting brutality, emphasising that kidnapping and killing members of security forces are unforgivable crimes against humanity.
While instructing security agents to go after the perpetrators, the organisation warned state actors against using maximal force on residents of the village where the kidnapping occurred in order to avoid collateral damage.
"The fact that most people who were still at home for the Yuletide season were unaware of why there were sporadic gunshots, including the explosion of dozens of suspected hand-grenade canisters, spread a climate of fear for hundreds of thousands of citizens who were in their hometowns for the Christmas festivity," it said.
The rights group questioned why locals would be subjected to such ordeals by soldiers who should be professionally educated and funded by taxpayers. According to reports, soldiers and Ebubeagu operatives went on the rampage in their attempt to find and rescue Lieutenant PP Johnson, and security agents set fire to the homes of villagers who had nothing to do with the crime of violent abduction of the young soldier.
(Source: Independent)
