They have also called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to send an independent investigative panel to the camps
regarding the issue.
Amnesty International released a
report alleging that soldiers and members of civilian joint task force (JTF)
demanded sex from IDPs in exchange of food.
The military subsequently led
some journalists to various IDP camps and at the end, they said no case of
sexual abuse was discovered.
“I have interacted with the
stakeholders in the camps and they said that the Nigerian armed forces have
neither molested, sexually assaulted nor raped any IDP as alleged by Amnesty
International’s recent concocted report,” John Agim, acting director of defence
information, said during the visit.
However, the IDPs have said they
were asked to say “there were no issues” in the camp during the visit.
They spoke in a statement issued
Monday, under Knifar, a movement of women IDPs in the region, and led by Hajiya
Hamsatu Allamin, a rights activist.
The statement published via the
movement’s Twitter handle read: “The military came to Dalori with journalists
to ask us displaced women if we were raped. Before the visit, the women were
told to say everything is fine, that there are no issues. Is this the way our
complaints are handled?
“One of our members was there.
She has an 18-month-old son, fathered by a soldier. Too scared and intimidated
to speak, she said nothing. No one spoke. Why are we forced to be exposed in
such a way?
“It happened to us. It is real.
And we formed our group to allow women to get accountability. We have said it
before. We are ready to speak but we can not imagine this is the way to do
this.”
1. The military came to Dalori with journalists to ask us displaced women if we were raped. Before the visit, the women were told to say everything is fine, that there are no issues. Is this the way our complaints are handled? #IDP https://t.co/ReWxntuPhg— Knifar movement (@Knifar2017) June 4, 2018
3. It happened to us. It is real. And we formed our group to allow women to get accountability. We have said it before. We are ready to speak but we can not imagine this is the way to do this.— Knifar movement (@Knifar2017) June 4, 2018
5. We have said it before: we are ready to speak to any investigation team the @NGRPresident sends to us. We only ask it will not be led by soldiers as they are also the ones who abused our women. @PremiumTimesng @dandalkura @MobilePunch @GuardianNigeria @THISDAYLIVE @daily_trust pic.twitter.com/1bbPOuUhNv— Knifar movement (@Knifar2017) June 4, 2018
They asked Buhari to hear their
cries and “investigate the soldiers who raped us when we were in Bama.”
“Our children died because there
was not enough food, unless we had sex with soldiers,” they said, adding: “We
have said it before: we are ready to speak to any investigation team the
president sends to us. We only ask it will not be led by soldiers as they are
also the ones who abused our women.”
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