Nigerian Army Officer emerges best in terrorism law studies at UK University

Against the backdrop of protests by some human rights organisation including Amnesty International, faulting the efforts of the Nigerian military in combating terrorism, with claims that the Armed Forces are doing little or nothing to protect the rights of citizens, a Nigerian Army lawyer, Major Ajibade Azeez Atobatele, of the Directorate of Army Legal Services, studying in the United Kingdom, has made the country proud.

He distinguished himself by finishing with a distinction in International Human Rights and Terrorism Law, coming top in his class.

The Nigerian Army officer also bagged the ‘Best Dissertation Award’ of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Lancaster, one of the top 10 universities in the United Kingdom. He was honoured at the convocation ceremony of the University, which was held in the UK.

Attesting further to Atobatele’s brilliant academic performance, the Director of Postgraduate Programmes in the Lancaster University Law School, Prof. Sigrun Skogly, confirmed, in a letter written to the Nigerian Embassy in London, that the Army officer performed exceptionally well and achieved the highest mark of his cohort – a mark she described as rarely awarded by the university.

The Law School further confirmed that Atobatele had been offered a doctoral degree admission in order to further his research on legal issues surrounding the war against insurgency in Nigeria.

Recall that some global rights organization including Amnesty International have always alleged poor human rights treatment by the Nigerian military particularly in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism in the North East part of the country.

This remarkable feat by the Nigerian Army officer has been described by observers as a confirmation of the efforts of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, who believes that the war against Boko Haram is not only to be fought in the battle trenches, but also on the intellectual sphere.

Not only that, this development is also seen as a confirmation of the claim by the Defence Headquarters that serious steps were being taken by the military and other security agencies to ensure that in any operation, human rights issues must be held sacrosanct.

The military authorities had also maintained that all her institutions in the country, from the lowest to the highest, have been trained on the importance and essence of human rights laws during armed conflicts are taught.

The need to combat the seeming international antagonism championed by the AI against the Nigerian government and the Army compelled the top brass of the Nigerian Army, led by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, to re-strategise and take certain concrete steps to reposition the Army in its fight against terrorism and insurgency

This is with a view to improving the human rights record of the force.

The Federal Government recognised that a way to achieve this was through the provision of higher education opportunities in human rights for Army officers.

“Therefore, in line with his vision “to have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles,” as well as prove Amnesty International, which is always accusing the military of gross human rights violation, wrong, Buratai deemed it fit to allow officers to undertake special courses focusing on human rights protection in the fight against terrorism and insurgency” an officer said.

The Nigerian military and the country are now set to reap the fruits of this ingenuity and investment by the chief of Army staff.

Meanwhile, elated by Atobatele’s brilliant and excellent performance in its LLM course in International Human Rights and Terrorism Law, the university has also immediately offered him a place in its Doctor of Philosophy programme for the 2019 academic session.

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