President Buhari has reacted to the Amnesty International report Stars on Their Shoulders. Blood on their Hands which details severe war crimes by Nigerian Military in the fight against Boko Haram.
President Buhari has acknowledged receipt of the Amnesty International report on Nigeria titled “Nigeria: Stories of horror in their own words.””I assure you that your report will be looked into.””This administration will leave no stone unturned to promote the rule of law, and deal with all cases of human rights abuses.Respect for human rights and adherence to the rule of law are the life and soul of the democratic system.”We will not tolerate or condone impunity and reckless disregard for human rights.”
In the shocking video,Amnesty International says the Nigerian military, including nine senior commanders, should be investigated for their role in shooting, starving, suffocating and torturing thousands of people to death during the fight against Boko Haram.
They claim more than 7,000 boys and young men have died under military detention since March 2011.A further 1,200 have been rounded up and extra-judicially killed since February 2012, it says.
A senior military figure told Amnesty that it was common for soldiers to
“go to the nearest place and kill all the youths. People killed may be innocent and not armed”At least 20,000 young males, some only nine years old, have been arrested since 2009, when Boko Haram, began their armed campaign to form a state ruled by Islamic law.In most cases, the arrests have been illegal.
Detainees have been kept in cramped cells with little food or water, without investigation or trial, Amnesty says.
“This sickening evidence exposes how thousands of young men and boys have been arbitrarily arrested and deliberately killed or left to die in detention in the most horrific conditions,” Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, said.
They name nine senior officers to be urgently probed for individual or command responsibilities for the human rights abuses.Those include General Ken Minimah, the incumbent army chief of staff; Air Chief Marshal Badeh, chief of defence staff; and both of their predecessors.
Responding to the report, Major-General Chris Olukolade of Nigeria’s military said Amnesty International was trying to “blackmail” the armed forces and that no allegations had been proved against individuals the report identified.
“The Nigerian military … rejects the biased and concocted report,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Nigerian military does not encourage or condone abuse of human rights, neither will any proven case be left unpunished.”
