Prisoners ‘executed, starved, tortured’
More than 8000 people have died while being detained by Nigeria’s armed forces during the campaign against militant Islamist group Boko Haram, Amnesty International said yesterday, allegations the military denied.
The group said many prisoners were executed and others died from starvation, overcrowding, torture and denial of medical help.
Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency has killed thousands and left 1.5 million people displaced. The group wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in the northeast of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and top oil exporter.
Muhammadu Buhari, the new president, has vowed to defeat Boko Haram and was meeting yesterday with his counterparts in neighbouring Niger and Chad on how best to tackle the insurgency.
The militants controlled a swathe of territory about the size of Belgium at the start of the year but have lost most of it in recent months because of the combined efforts of troops from Nigeria and Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Amnesty said Nigerian troops had rounded up thousands of men and boys, some as young as 9, in Boko Haram strongholds. Many were executed, or died in custody if families could not pay a bribe.
More than 1200 people were extrajudicially executed and more than 7000 starved or died of disease in severely overcrowded cells, Amnesty said.
Many of those executed were shot inside detention facilities, despite presenting no danger, in violation of international humanitarian laws, Amnesty said.
‘‘These acts, committed in the context of a non-international armed conflict, constitute war crimes,’’ Amnesty said.
Major General Chris Olukolade said the charity was trying to ‘‘blackmail’’ the country’s armed forces and no allegations had been proved against individuals whom the report identified.
‘‘The Nigerian military . . . rejects the biased and concocted report provided by Amnesty International,’’ he said.
‘‘The Nigerian military does not encourage or condone abuse of human rights, neither will any proven case be left unpunished.’’
Amnesty’s 133-page report was based on about 400 interviews with sources, including victims, eyewitnesses and members of the armed forces, as well as videos and photographs.
Presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said Buhari’s administration would study the report and act appropriately.
‘‘The administration will leave no stone unturned to promote the rule of law. . . . Respect for human rights and adherence to the rule of law are the life and soul of the democratic system,’’ Buhari was quoted as saying in a statement from his spokesman.
The British High Commission in Abuja said it regularly raised human rights issues with Nigeria.
A US State Department official said that Nigeria should investigate the allegations.