The latest so-called “report” by Amnesty International on insecurity in Nigeria reads less like a credible human rights document and more like a poorly written political pamphlet—riddled with inaccuracies, inflated figures, and a stunning disregard for truth.
Security Watch Network for Good Governance is appalled—but not surprised—by Amnesty International’s continued descent into irrelevance, dishonesty, and outright sabotage. This latest report, which claims that over 10,000 Nigerians have been killed and more than 672 villages “sacked” since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, is nothing short of reckless propaganda. It deserves to be thrown in the dustbin of discredited foreign interference.
Let us be clear: Amnesty International has long abandoned its mandate of impartiality and objectivity. In Nigeria, it has become indistinguishable from a partisan pressure group, donning the robe of the opposition and seeking to undermine national institutions at every opportunity. If Amnesty is so interested in Nigeria’s political landscape, it should simply register as a political party with INEC, then Nigerians will know exactly who they are dealing with.
The report’s outrageous claim that over 6,800 people were killed in Benue alone since May 2023 is not just an exaggeration—it is a statistical insult. These numbers are not drawn from any verifiable or official source. Rather, they are manufactured from thin air, aided by anonymous “field researchers” and hearsay from known agitators, most of whom have an axe to grind against the Nigerian state.
Amnesty International claims that bandits control over 529 villages in Zamfara State. This is laughable on its face—a wild fabrication intended to provoke panic and win donor funding from credulous international sympathisers. If Amnesty believes its own report, it should publish a map pinpointing all 529 supposedly occupied villages. It will not, because it cannot. The claim is a ghost story that is dramatic, unverifiable, and politically timed.
Indeed, the timing of the report’s release—on the eve of President Tinubu’s second anniversary in office—makes its motives painfully obvious. This was not a neutral act of advocacy. It was a calculated political intervention meant to distort the administration’s record, distract from progress, and stir unrest.
More appalling is Amnesty’s refusal to acknowledge the measurable gains Nigeria has recorded under this administration: the restoration of safety on the Kaduna–Abuja highway; the dismantling of major bandit camps in the North West; the improved intelligence coordination through the Office of the NSA; and the long-overdue enforcement of the NIN-SIM policy, which has made communications-based crime easier to trace.
Even on the humanitarian front, Amnesty’s report fails to acknowledge the ongoing efforts by NEMA, the armed forces, and local governments to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) and restore stability to affected communities. Instead, Amnesty peddles a one-sided narrative designed to fuel donor outrage and global media headlines while ignoring boots-on-the-ground facts.
The sad truth is that Amnesty International has become a parody of itself, one that is weaponising falsehoods, exaggerating casualties, and relying on shadowy informants to build a case against any government that doesn’t bow to its ideological posturing. Across Africa and the Middle East, Amnesty has become notorious for cherry-picking data, downplaying terrorism, and parroting anti-state rhetoric without evidence.
The Nigerian government and its security agencies do not claim perfection. But they deserve fairness, not fantasy. Every day, soldiers, police officers, and intelligence agents risk their lives to defend this country from sophisticated, well-armed criminal networks. Amnesty’s cynical misrepresentation of this struggle amounts to an insult to the thousands of men and women in uniform who are restoring order in difficult terrain.
We call on the Federal Government to re-evaluate Amnesty International’s continued operation in Nigeria. Any foreign organisation that undermines our security architecture, spreads falsehoods, and sows division under the guise of human rights does not deserve a platform here.
Let it be known: Nigeria’s path to peace and security is being forged by real sacrifice, not sensationalist storytelling. No amount of Western-authored fiction will deter the resolve of this government, and the resilience of its people, to overcome terrorism, banditry, and propaganda.
Signed:
Abdullahi Maikano
Chairman of the Security Watch Network for Good Governance