Juliana Francis
Rafsanjani
The Civil
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has continues it unrelenting fight
for the protection of civilians in armed conflict, through a legal framework,
which it’s now presently urging President Muhammadu Buhari to sign for the
Protection of Civilians (PoC).
The group, once again, expressed worries over the
growing worrisome trend of what has become acceptable collateral damage in the
escalating deaths of civilians during armed conflict.
These worries are understandable following the cold
statistic of realities confronting any interested party.
According to the Programme Manager, Defence and of Security,
CISLAC, Mr.
Salaudeen Hashim, some of the Nigerian realities are: “We want the President to
sign the bill for the Protection of Civilians (PoC), because civilian lives
lost to various armed conflicts in the past decade are over 500,000 and cannot
be ignored by the media. Over three million people are displaced due to armed
conflicts, while over 10million people depend entirely on humanitarian aid to
survive. At least two million people live in areas controlled by armed
opposition groups (AoGs), sexual exploitation and abuse. Civilians Joint Task
Forces (CJTFs), Amotekun, Ebube Agwu and Hisbah now boasts over 100,000
membership with spiraling civilian abuses. If the government put
the PoC policy in place, it will become the first country in Africa to do so,
and we think it is something fundamental that the country write its name on the
epitaph of good governance.”
Hashim explained that the notion of acceptable collateral
damage, seriously needed to be reconsidered. “As is evident from several cases,
significant harm to civilians occurs not only through willful intent or what
can be considered violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Adherence
to the letter, as well as the spirit, of IHL needs to become the norm,
resulting in resolute efforts to mitigate civilian harm to the greatest extent
possible.”
He made these startling revelations at a Roundtable
meeting organised by CISLAC, with the support from Open Society Initiative for
West Africa (OSIWA). The meeting was to further highlight the importance of the
government assenting to laws that will see to the protection of civilians
during armed conflicts, with the state and non-state actors adhering to the
international observance at conflict scenes.
The meeting was also to rouse the media from its
laxity to proactive investigation of the dangerous effect of conflicts in the
lives of the masses and how they had become the accepted collateral damage.
He noted: “Rolling out tanks everywhere does not
solve anything. Instead it takes away food and sources of livelihood. We are
burning farms in the name of fighting insecurity. Bandits are also burning
farms. We need a soft approach. Why is it easy to get voters’ cards to
particular villages, but not security? Communication infrastructure is the
biggest way to tackle insecurity. NCC should look for ways to partner with
security forces.”
He said that conflicts and insecurity are enabled by
small arms in circulation. He also argued that porous borders and corruption at
different borders in Nigeria are some factors fuelling insecurity. He said that
the old narratives should be changed. He added: “We need media reports to help
our leaders to make informed decisions. We need to do a lot of civil
engagements. Since 2015, we’ve taken 1 billion dollars for insecurity. When we
talk about security civilians, we must also talk about the welfare of the
security personnel.”
He pointed out that security forces should take
minimal care during armed conflicts not to harm or caused they harm. He
criticized the kneejerk approach of government in time of emergencies, whereby
they quickly deploy security forces without proper briefing. “To plan an
operation security forces need to know and understand the environment. They
should endeavour to use someone in the community for information and oversight agencies
have poor knowledge of what they are overseeing. Knowledge gaps continue to
make insecurity to linger. If security agents are trained, they’ll know how to
use discretional powers,” said Hashim.
The Executive Director of CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Musa
Ibrahim (Rafsanjani), opined that the escalating incidents of violence in
Nigeria had become alarming and thereby unacceptable. He revealed that present
statistics and reports showed that Nigeria has overtaken Afghanistan and
Somalia in terms of kidnapping and banditry.
He wondered aloud why government seemed to have
jettisoned its primary purpose of governance. He stated that the state should
serve as a guardian of its people, in the spirit of the law.
Rafsanjani noted that documented killings and other issues
of insecurity reflected the state of insecurity in the country translates to
mere campaign promises by Muhammadu Buhari who pledged to combat insecurity
about five years ago before being elected into office as President.
He therefore called on the federal government to
wake up to its responsibility by providing security and safety of Nigerians.
Rafsanjani said: “This is why we call for, as a
matter of urgency, for the adoption of the Protection of Civilians and
Civilians Harm Mitigation policy into law.”
Hashim explained that the media should report by
raising awareness about the reality and potential for civilian harm during
military and security operations and also awareness about the existing civilian
harm mitigation procedures and processes.
He further noted: “There should also be reports on awareness
about good practice in civilian harm mitigation practices across the world and
the tracking and reporting on both civilian harm incidents and civilian harm
mitigation responses. The media should highlight how
corruption undermines Protection of Civilian by counting the social and human
costs – The good example of a recent Sunday Punch Story which says money spent
on bullet proof cars can build 150 classrooms or schools. Higher priority to transparency,
accountability and open governance issues. Promoting voices seeking the
eradication of urban and rural poverty and creating forum and platforms for
discussion of alternative development issues. Journalists must take more
interest in in-depth reporting, analysis of the urgency to promote Protection
of Civilian and Civilian Harm Mitigation in Armed Conflict. They must always
have the people at the centre of their coverage. They must stick to issues,
follow up harm is recorded, evaluate performances. They must report, write
features and do sector focused journalism, collaborate with other stakeholders.
De-commercialise protection and civilian harm related issues.”
Hashim fretted that the absence of Policy or legal
framework, could results in lack of clear basis for assessing government response
to PoC and Civilian vulnerability reduction. “Also, it can result to absence of
a document that is internationally acceptable to sell protection of Civilian
potentials of the country to increase social, economic and development
assistant within and outside. May further results to absence of a documentary
that gives development partners opportunity for determining entry points to
help while it retains ownership of the document.”
Hashim said civilians continued to be harmed in
during conflicts and become collateral damages because protection of Civilian
and Civilian Harm Mitigation is vague in our laws. He said: “The culture of
human security is sacrosanct and must prevail. The art of command and the
science of control to overcome the challenges of a complex of uncertain
operational environment require a cutting-edge approach. Defeating the enemy,
preserving the force, and protecting civilians.”
He urged journalists to join hands in fighting to
ensure that the legal framework is signed by doing regular editorials on the
urgency to have a PoC-CHM regime in place at all levels.
He also explained that all actors, including the
President has an essential role to play as the Commander in Chief body language
and strategic direction.
He added: “Nigeria loses hundreds of lives to the
conflict in the NorthEast, NorthWest, SouthEast and SouthSouth. The deficit of
0.3 million lives in the past year with a loss of average of USD 20 million
paid in various ransom. Nigeria becomes the first country in Africa, if it goes
ahead with the legislation. Civilian Harm Risk Impact Assessment is urgently
required to prioritize areas of risk. Protection is not just from physical
harm, it also covers all components such as livelihood and healthcare.”
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