By Emmanuel Nduka
The Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ), has denied allegations of Amnesty International that its troops have been unlawfully detaining and abusing dozens of women and children fleeing Boko Haram captivity.
Heritage Times HT reports that in a new report released on Monday, Amnesty International claimed that the Nigerian military was holding the women and their children for years because of their real or perceived association with the extremists, citing 126 interviews, mostly with survivors, over the 14 years since the Islamic extremists launched their insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria.
Responding in a statement late Monday, the Nigerian Military said, “The attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to allegations labelled against the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) by Report of Amnesty International launched during a Press Conference in Abuja on 10 June 2024”.
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“Accordingly, the AFN hereby makes it unequivocally clear that, it is a professional military force that operates within the ambit of International law of armed conflict. Additionally, the AFN adheres to humanitarian law and principles governing human rights.
“Furthermore, the AFN elects not to join words with organisations such as Amnesty International, rather would encourage them to approach the military high command to substantiate their allegations. The military has self regulating mechanisms with which it administers the military justice system to address any proven case of misconduct of personnel.
“It is worthy of note to state that, the AFN led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa OFR, has zero tolerance for indiscipline and any form of improper conduct during operations across the country. It is for this reason that, there are standing court martials to treat any form of misbehaviour by erring personnel, especially those that portray the military negatively to the general populace.
“Lastly, the AFN will remain focussed on its objective. We will be unperturbed by such self serving statements targeted at dampening the moral of troops in operational theatres. Rather, we will engage constructively with Amnesty International, where available. Overall, we will continue on the trajectory of conducting operations assiduously to defeat terrorism in our nation,” the statement by Major General Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations read.
