Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, the coordinating headquarters of the three Services – Army, Navy and Air Force, says it has invited the international human rights group, Amnesty International, to substantiate its allegations against the military that 10,000 civilians died in its custody.
Describing the claims by the international rights group as “malicious, shocking, lacking in merit as well as mischievous,” Defence Headquarters restated that the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) is a professional organization and therefore could not have engaged in what it was being accused of.
Amnesty had at a press briefing n Maiduguri on Thursday accused the military of sending 10,000 civilians into early graves while in their detention.
But Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, in a statement explained that it would not want to join issues with the organisation because standard of operations was followed in handling matters related to arrest of civilians.
General Buba said it decided to invite the organization to come forward with evidence to back up its claims so as to enable the military to conduct an inquiry in order to determine the authenticity or otherwise of the made allegations.
The statement read, “The attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to some spurious allegations made by Amnesty International during a press conference held on 5 Dec 24. It was alleged that, since the onset of Boko Haram insurgency in the North East of Nigeria (NE) over ten thousand civilians died in Nigerian Military detention facilities among other spurious allegations.
“The armed forces views the pronouncements by Amnesty International as shocking, lacking in merit as well as mischievous, particularly as it coming at this ending cycle stage of the counter terrorism war in the NE.
“Though the Armed Forces is not willing to join words with Amnesty International, it is of utmost necessity to set the records straight. The Nigerian military is a professional forces which conducts its operations within the dictates of international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflicts.
“Though the operational environment has been complex and challenging, troop have painstakingly abide by the rules of engagement to extensively avoided civilian casualties in whatever shape or form. Additionally, whenever arrest are made , suspects are profiled, after which the suspects are handed over to the appropriate agency for release or prosecution.
“As a deterrence to unethical conducts, there are standing court martials within the operational theatres to ensure justice is immediately administered to any erring personnel during operations. Overall, It is necessary to reiterate that the armed forces under the able leadership of the CDS, General Christopher Musa, remains professional in carrying out its constitutional mandates in line with global best practices.
“On the whole, the armed forces invites Amnesty International to substantiate the details of the allegations. This will enable the military to conduct an inquiry in order to determine the authenticity or otherwise of the made allegations.”