The Arewa Consultative Forum on Thursday said it would constitute a team that would monitor the conduct of the military in enforcing the state of emergency declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
The decision was contained in a statement issued by the ACF’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Fati Ibrahim, after its National Executive Council meeting chaired by Alhaji Aliko Mohammed in Kaduna.
The statement said: “The team will collect information and evidence from the field and determine if at all times, the military campaign is conforming with the published terms of engagement and other human rights conventions to which Nigeria is signatory to.”
“In particular, the ACF calls on the military to avoid the temptation of deploying heavy handed tactics or adopt measures that will cause increased casualties and bloodshed under the cover of emergency rule,” the statement added.
The ACF advised the Federal Government not to consider “the increased military deployments as a superior option or alternative to the slower and more tedious path of dialogue, negotiation and reconciliation.”
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