Amnesty: Nigerian soldiers slit detainees’ throats

Amnesty International says it has seen footage that seems to show Nigerian soldiers slitting the throats of detainees and dumping them in mass graves in the war against terror.

It also said Boko Haram militants and the military have killed about 4,000 people in the insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria.

The body stated that such acts violate human rights and humanitarian laws, and urged the government to investigate the issue and bring those culpable to book in order to serve as a means of deterrence.

Describing the situation in the north as “escalating”, Amnesty claimed to be in possession of evidence to prove that war crimes have been committed in Borno state.

“Gruesome video footage, images and testimonies gathered by Amnesty International provide fresh evidence of war crimes, including extrajudicial executions, and other serious human rights violations being carried out in north-eastern Nigeria as the fight by the military against Boko Haram and other armed groups intensifies,” read a statement signed by Salil Shetty, Amnesty’s secretary general.

“The footage, obtained from numerous sources during a recent trip to Borno state, reveals graphic evidence of multiple war crimes being carried out in Nigeria.

“It includes horrific images of detainees having their throats slit one by one and dumped in mass graves by men who appear to be members of the Nigerian military and the ‘Civilian Joint Task Force’ (CJTF), state-sponsored militias. It also shows the aftermath of a Boko Haram raid on a village in which the armed group killed nearly 100 people and destroyed or badly damaged scores of homes and other buildings.

“This shocking new evidence is further proof of the appalling crimes being committed with abandon by all sides in the conflict. Nigerians deserve better – what does it say when members of the military carry out such unspeakable acts and capture the images on film?”

Amnesty blamed the insurgents and the military for allowing the crisis degenerate into the present level.

“These are not the images we expect from a government which sees itself as having a leadership role in Africa. The ghastly images are backed up by the numerous testimonies we have gathered which suggest that extrajudicial executions are, in fact, regularly carried out by the Nigerian military and CJTF,” the statement continued.

“More than 4,000 people have been killed this year alone in the conflict by the Nigerian military and Boko Haram, including more than 600 extra-judicially executed following the Giwa Barracks attack on 14 March in Maiduguri.”

In July, TheCable published a story of a family demanding for justice over the death of a man whose family claimed had been mistook for a Boko Haram member.

Citing the recent clash between the military and Shi’a, an Islamic sect in Kaduna, Amnesty urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, make the military realise its mandate of defending the people.

“Members of Boko Haram and other armed groups are responsible for a huge number of heinous crimes – like the abduction of the schoolgirls in Chibok more than three months ago – but the military are supposed to defend people, not to carry out further abuses themselves,” Shetty’s statement added.

“A state of emergency must not give way to a state of lawlessness. Sadly, the same communities are now being terrorized in turn by Boko Haram and the military alike.”

Amnesty also said it obtained different footages, including that of a gruesome incident that took place near Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on 14 March 2014, showing what appeared to be members of the Nigerian military and CJTF using a blade to slit the throats of a series of detainees, before dumping them into an open mass grave.

It said it spoke with different military sources who confirmed independently that the armed captors in the video it obtained were indeed military personnel who may be part of the 81 Battalion in Borno state.

It quoted a relative of one of the victims of the killings as saying: “Everyone was aware that these people [had been killed], [and] started running to look. We found [our relative] near Bama bridge.

“Plenty of people were with us. They [had] shot five of them [in that location alone]. There were five bodies including [my relative]. He had a bullet hole in his chest and no clothes, only trousers.

“We took the body and buried it. There is no death certificate; Bama hospital is not functioning. There is no place to complain; the town has restricted movement. Everybody left what happened to God.”

Amnesty International urged the government not to ignore the issues raised but to get to the roots and ensure that justice is done.