Men of the Joint Task Force committed
atrocities in Baga, a town in Borno State, according to an interim
report released by the National Human Rights Commission.
The report on the April 2013 Baga
incident and the situation in North-East listed the atrocities
perpetrated by the JTF to include summary executions, torture, and
arbitrary detention of people.
The report which was released on
Sunday, also said personnel of both the JTF and the state
environmental outfit regularly disposed corpses in the area.
“In particular, we have received
persistent and credibly attested allegations of indiscriminate disposal
of human remains by personnel of both the JTF and the Borno State
Environmental Protection Agency ,” the 40- page report said.
It added the JTF detained people indiscriminately and in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The report said, “Detainees are
allegedly held in un-gazetted places of detention, with no or inadequate
documentation and outside the safeguards provided for under applicable
laws, including the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights.
“They are not allowed access to family, counsel or medical personnel.”
According to the report, most of the
allegations against the JTF related to the question of proportionality
of the use of force as well as the standards applicable to the conduct
of the armed forces in internal security operations.
When one of our correspondents
contacted the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen Chris
Olukolade, he said that the DHQ had not got the report officially.
“We have not got that report
officially so there would be no need for comments for now until we see
the details and understand what they are up to,” he said.
On the situation in the North-East, the commission warned that a humanitarian crisis loomed in the area.
The commission established the fact that
members of the Boko Haram sect carried out multi-faceted attacks on law
enforcement agents and service personnel.
It said, “In addition to systematic
attacks on law enforcement and internal security assets, JALISWAJ is
also credibly alleged to have attacked communities, churches and places
of worship.
“Victims reported the shooting of family
members by young men who spoke the local Kanuri language. In many
communities, women were reportedly prevented from going to the farms or
undertaking planting. Some who ventured were attacked or abducted.”
The commission also said that it found
incidents of forced marriage perpetrated by members of the sect and
spoke with witnesses whose family members were abducted and forced into
marriage.
The report therefore urged the Federal
Government to regularly undertake rotation and renewal of the troops
deployed in the North-East to allow them have enough rest and
recuperation.
It noted that the farming communities of Borno State had lost the 2013 planting season due to fear of Boko Haram attacks.
The report added, “The consequences of
this are far-reaching. The immediate result is the likelihood of a food
security and nutritional crises in Borno and surrounding states that
dependent on the. agricultural produce from its Lake Chad Basin,”
It called on the Federal Government to
urgently deploy mitigation mechanisms in order to avert a food security
and nutritional crisis in the area.
Already, it established that the prices
of foodstuffs had already gone up in most of the states in
north-east .It also noted that since the introduction of a state of
emergency in some states in the zone, there had been a notable
de-escalation in Boko Haram activities, especially in Borno State.
Media reports had claimed that between
185 and 228 people, mostly civilians, died in the clash but the
military authorities dismissed the figures as highly exaggerated.
The Human Rights Watch had in May
presented evidence in form of satellite images of the Baga incident
showing abuse by the military
HRW claimed that 2,275 homes were ruined
based on analyzed satellite images contrary to the military’s assertion
that only 30 houses were destroyed during the raid.
“The Nigerian military has a duty to
protect itself and the population from Boko Haram attacks, but the
evidence indicates that it engaged more in destruction than in
protection,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at HRW.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com