Boko Haram: Amnesty Int’l Accuses Military Of Setting Borno Villages On Fire

Nigerian Army (Photo Courtesy: MySalaryScale)

Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian military of burning some villages in Borno State and displacing residents of the affected villages.

In a statement on Friday, the human rights group said the security agents burn the villages in response to escalation in attacks by Boko Haram insurgents recently.

According to Amnesty, its facts were drawn from interviews with affected villagers and satellite data analysis.

It noted that the insurgents have heightened their activities in the region since December 2020, especially along the major road linking the Borno State capital – Maiduguri with Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State.

The statement read: “The Nigerian military has burned and forcibly displaced entire villages in response to a recent escalation in attacks by the armed group Boko Haram, Amnesty International said today, based on interviews with affected villagers in Borno State and satellite data analysis.

“The military also arbitrarily detained six men from the displaced villages, continuing a pattern of violations Amnesty International has documented throughout the country’s decade-long armed conflict in the northeast.

“The men were held incommunicado for almost a month and subjected to ill-treatment, before their release on 30 January 2020.

“These brazen acts of razing entire villages, deliberately destroying civilian homes and forcibly displacing their inhabitants with no imperative military grounds, should be investigated as possible war crimes,” said Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“They repeat a longstanding pattern of the Nigerian military meting out brutal tactics against the civilian population. Forces allegedly responsible for such violations must be suspended immediately and brought to justice.”

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