Nigeria's military committed war crimes - Amnesty International
Nigeria’s security forces have been accused of committing
war crimes and crimes against humanity during its fight against Islamist
insurgency Boko Haram.
A new report released by Amnesty International
on Thursday reveals how the crimes were perpetrated for years and have
continued despite a presidential inquiry established last August.
In some cases, the abuse appears to be part of a pattern of persecution of anyone perceived to have a connection to Boko Haram.
According to Amnesty’s report, interviewees “said that when the
military conducted operations in their villages, they burnt down homes
and opened fire at remaining residents indiscriminately.”
“It is absolutely shocking that people who had already suffered so
much under Boko Haram have been condemned to further horrendous abuse by
the Nigerian military,” said Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty
International Nigeria.
The human rights watchdog has accused Nigerian security forces of
raping thousands of women and girls at the Internally Displaced Persons
camps in the country.
“Instead of receiving protection from the authorities, women and
girls have been forced to succumb to rape in order to avoid starvation
or hunger,” added Ojigho.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters has accused Amnesty
International of planning to destabilize the country. The military had
announced on Wednesday that it received credible intelligence report of a
plan by the human rights body to release what it calls a false report.
“The Defence Headquarters therefore, urge all law abiding citizens
to continue to trust and support the military in the ongoing war against
Boko Haram and go about their normal lawful business,” read an extract
from the military statement.
Nigeria has waged a nine-year war against Boko Haram. Over 2 million people have been displaced and thousands have been killed.
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