Coalition Of CSOs Condemns Attacks On NIRSAL By Faceless Groups

A coalition of 17 Civil Society Organisations on Wednesday kicked against what it described as the malicious, unwarranted, hate and false allegations deliberately targeted against the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc.

The Coalition led by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) told journalists at a press briefing in Abuja that NIRSAL, an institution that is playing a key role in the transformation of Nigerian agriculture, has been made a subject of a vicious and sustained campaign of calumny over the past two years and being executed by faceless elements, who hide behind compromised social media platforms to throw mud at the organisation.

The coalition said at the press conference addressed by the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, who was accompanied by other members of the coalition, that a the faceless group is currently using a compromised high profile “activist” online platform to launch personal attacks against the leadership of NIRSAL.

Onwubiko said that as a way of achieving their set objectives, the faceless group have forged fake documents, organized fake protests, sponsored fake farmer groups and induced unprofessional media platforms which lack integrity to publish unverified falsehoods against NIRSAL.

He said the faceless group also tried to instigate security agencies through baseless and unsubstantiated reports based on fake allegations they sponsored in the social media.

According to Onwubiko; “The allegations have ranged from mismanagement of funds by its current leadership to claims of discrimination and favouritism. Significantly, despite the media campaign and reports made to the security agencies, no evidence of impropriety has been found.

“It is totally incredible to us that an institution that is working so hard for the country without any budgetary appropriation by the Federal Government nor allocation of funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria, yet achieving solid results in a critical area of national development such as agriculture, can be subjected to endless attacks in pursuit of nefarious political goals and negative economic interests,” he said.

The coalition therefore called on the Inspector General of Police to order an investigation by inviting for interrogation “these bunch of detractors, traversing the length and breadth of the media industry in their campaign against the management of NIRSAL PLC under the headship of Mr Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed as Managing Director.

Onwubiko said that NERSAL leadership deserves gratitude and commendation of Nigerians and not the unwarranted constant attacks and therefore said that the sponsors of the campaign of falsehood and calumny must not be allowed to achieve their evil plans.

In his words; “If we sit back and fold our arms whilst this evil is allowed to fester, then we will be shooting ourselves in the foot destroying a unique creation of Nigeria which is presently an envy of other countries in Africa and beyond”.