Amnesty International AI, has accused the Nigerian military of violating international human rights.
It alleged that the military deployed unlawful tactics in its purported fight against insurgency in the North-East.
In a just-released report, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, said Nigerian military were involved in forceful displacement and detention of villagers.
According to Ojigho, the military burnt three villages and detained six men from the displaced communities at Maimalari military barracks in Maiduguri for about a month.
He said “They repeat a longstanding pattern of the Nigerian military’s brutal tactics against the civilian population. Forces allegedly responsible for such violations must be suspended immediately and brought to justice.”
Amnesty International
AI said beginning December 2019, the military razed villages in response to Boko Haram attacks along the important road between Maiduguri and Damaturu, the capitals of Borno and Yobe States.
AI said the displacement of the inhabitants of these villages, where their security or imperative military reasons did not demand so, constituted a war crime, adding that the subsequent burning of their homes might amount to a war crime as well.
“The Nigerian government must not brush these violations under the carpet. They must be investigated, and alleged perpetrators must be prosecuted.
AI demanded that necessary steps must be taken to ensure that military operations do not further forcibly displace civilian populations.
