Extra Judicial killings: Amnesty Int’l can’t substantiate claims – Military

The Nigerian Military, yesterday, said that no new facts had been unearthed by the Amnesty International (AI) to warrant their repeated allegations against the Nigerian Military.

The AI had alleged the Nigerian Troops of human rights abuse and extra judicial killing of civilians in the ongoing war against insurgency in the northern part of the country.

Consequently, the Nigerian Military said it had launched a comprehensive investigation into the recent allegations by the AI, appealing to AI to be patient to see the outcome of the ongoing investigation.



The Chief Administration, Army Headquarters, Major Gen. Adamu Abubakar, who stated this during a press briefing on the allegations by the AI, in Abuja, maintained that it took AI six years to chronicle their allegations, and they wanted the Nigerian military to investigate and report immediately.

The Military said instead of the AI to come up with a new facts, their figures had “kept on increasing from 4,600 to 8,000 and even as high as 13,000 civilians.

He noted that on several occasions had the Nigerian Military requested AI to provide a member for the investigation panel to look into the allegations, but the invitation was not honoured, adding that the essence of the request was to guarantee fairness and justice, while proving that the military had nothing to hide.

According to him, “The investigation is on-going, Nigerians and the world at large will certainly be informed of the outcome at the end of the investigation.

“The Nigerian Military is open to genuine criticisms and allegations, but requires time and patience to report back.”

The Nigerian Military is a conventional and professional military that is driven by international standards and best practices.”

Abubakar explained that investigations had been carried out by the authorities on the earlier allegations by the AI, and they discovered that the detainees were even being released in 2014 with token amount of N100,000 each to set them up.

He said; “The preliminary investigation reports submitted have resulted in the released of some under aged detainees, women and children from military holding facilities.

“Sequel to the report of the investigation panel, 42 detainees were handed over to Borno State Government on Thursday 6TH November 2014 and another set of 124 persons were also handed over to the state government on 8th November 2014 respectively.

“You may recall that the released persons were assisted with a token financial assistance of N100, 000.00 each by the military. The living condition of the detainees was improved upon with the decongestion of holding facilities.”

Abubakar further noted that several reputable organizations had conducted independent investigations on the allegations of human rights violation by AI against the Nigerian Military and did not found it wanted.

“It is worthy to note that Human Rights Watch on some occasions had to recant its allegations of human rights abuses by the Nigerian Military after thorough investigations.”

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