Falana, George, laud presidential panel on armed forces

Femi Falana (SAN) and Prof. Akinseye George (SAN) on Thursday applauded the Presidential Investigation Panel on Armed Forces in Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the panel was set up to review compliance of the Armed Forces with Human Rights Obligations and Rules of Engagement.
The Senior Advocates of Nigeria made their commendations while speaking with NAN on the sideline of the panel’s winding up of its hearing in Abuja.
Falana (SAN) is the counsel to detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, El-Zakzaky, while Prof. George (SAN) is the counsel to the Nigerian Army.
Falana, however, said that with the way the panel had conducted its proceedings he was confident that the outcome would be pleasing to all parties.
According to him, I know the panel is made up of people of proven integrity and I know that based on the evidence before them, they will write reports and make appropriate recommendations in the interest of our country.
George also said that the panel had done a great job, adding that the establishment of the panel by the Federal Government was laudable.
He said: “We pray and hope that the report of this panel will not go down the drain, the whole world is waiting for the outcome of this panel.
“Everybody has been saying investigate and now the Federal Government has taken the bull by the horn, government has done the right thing by setting up this investigation.
“It is hoped that the reports of the panel will not end on a shelve, and that the report will be implemented by the government so as to show the good work that the military is doing and area of improvement.”
Meanwhile, Prof George said that the panel had helped to show that the Nigeria military personnel were well trained, adding that they had done a great job to preserve and defence the country from being overrun by terrorists.
According to him, the efforts of the Nigeria army in various operations are like surgical operations; when a patient goes for surgical operation, certainly there must be pain.
He added that the purpose was not to kill the patient but to preserve the life of the patient, adding that this is the sense in which we must understand the operation of the Nigeria military in situations of conflict.
George said: “The military has done a great service for the country by preventing and minimising the impact of such negative tendencies.”
According to him, there are no systematic violations of human right or pattern of violation of human rights by the military; it has not been established to the best of my knowledge.