The group also condemned in strong terms the killing by the dreaded Boko Haram sect of one its captive, Saifura Khorsa of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) saying that it is time that the world apply pressure in the right places to end the bloodthirsty activities of what is left of the terrorist group.
PRRI Media Officer, Bukola Olasanmi in a statement issued today in Abuja said the greatest tribute the nation can pay to Saifura is to ensure that terrorism does not win and that the murderers that cut short the life she had devoted to caring for others are hauled before the law to answer for their crime.
She said, ” We must not allow terrorism to win by falling into fear as the terrorists intended.
“If Boko Haram intended to scare off intervention and aid workers from helping people in the northeast, we at PRRI have resolved to react different from what the terrorists expected by continuing to provide succour to the communities they have afflicted and we believe that other aid agencies will join in sending similar clear messages to them that humanity will always triumph over the barbaric path they tread”she added
The PRRI Media Officer urged local and international aid workers not to be deterred by Boko Haram’s twisted action in killing a care giver, something she described as a taboo even in situation of full blown war.
She said this perverted action of the terrorists should open the eyes of those that have passively advocated for them to see from a better perspective the threat they constitute not just to the immediate geographical area where they are now confined but to the entire world if stakeholders delay further in finding closure by urging decisive action against them.
“We encourage NGOs that already work in the northeast to continue supporting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including those that have elected to return home to areas that have been totally cleared by the Nigerian Army.
” It is important that they are reassured and not allowed to become despondent by panic reactions.
“PRRI invites the Bring Back Our Girls group (BBOG), Amnesty International and other groups that have sustained advocacy for those being held captive by Boko Haram to explore new tactics that take the advocacy from the comfort of the nation’s capital to and move into the trenches, closer to the theatre of unfolding events in the hope that this will strike a chord and yield results.
“The expectation is that Amnesty International will, with the dispatch it is known for, approach the International Criminal Court – directly or through its affiliates – to file a petition of war crime and crime against humanity against Boko Haram.
“This should have the strategic benefit of helping to further isolate the group and criminalize any entity that might still have dealings with it”she said
PRRI also appealed to the international community and the United Nations Security Council to activate a process of unmasking the foreign countries and international interests that have been reported to be aiding Boko Haram with a view to getting them to cut off such support in view of the sacrilegious act that the terrorists have committed by killing an aid worker.
“Our position is summed up as there is need to make the repercussions for this singular sad incident costly for Boko Haram and it must be done immediately”she concluded
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