Skip to main content

International Criminal Court, Amnesty International Worried By Human Rights Violation By Nigerian Army, Others Under Buhari Government

Buhari
January 6, 2023

Using security operatives, the Buhari-led government is also known for harassing, assaulting and intimidating journalists, human rights activists, protesters and critics of the government.

Fresh facts have emerged on how human rights violations have continued to thrive under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration despite concerns raised by stakeholders.

 

Using security operatives, the Buhari-led government is also known for harassing, assaulting and intimidating journalists, human rights activists, protesters and critics of the government.

 

The government has also shown hostility to Nigerian Judges and indifference to court judgments and orders, thereby seriously undermining their standing and authority, and the notion of access to justice.

 

His administration simply ignores court judgments and orders. Buhari has literally normalised disobedience to court orders, and state-sanctioned brutality against peaceful protesters.

 

The administration also continues to violate human rights with impunity.

 

Sources in the know of the concerns raised by stakeholders confided in this medium that the Nigerian Military and police are culpable in this regard, especially in the prosecution of the war against insurgency and other separationist agitations in the country.

 

In its 2020 report, Amnesty International noted that, under the Buhari administration, Nigerian security forces committed grave human rights violations, including torture and other ill-treatment, and the use of excessive force, which resulted, on some occasions, in unlawful killings.

 

AI also stated that Nigerian authorities repressed human rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of movement.

 

The AI report highlighted the brutal crackdown on a pro-Biafra group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Yoruba self-determination groups.

 

The ‘Lekki toll gate massacre’ of October 20, 2020, was another instance whereby Nigerian soldiers were unleashed on defenceless citizens with deadly effects.

 

According to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, human rights organisations such as Amnesty International have expressed concern to the International Criminal Court for non-action in the case of Nigeria despite glaring evidence of human rights violations by the Nigerian military.

 

"Amnesty International has expressed disappointment that the ICC has not acted to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to book in Nigeria. The Nigerian Military has been notorious. As we speak, the ICC is in receipt of countless human rights infractions committed in North East Nigeria and other parts of the country.

 

“We know that the authorities in Nigeria have been shielding some persons that aided human rights violations in various capacities. Some of these persons were appointed to cover their atrocities while in office. This is a worrisome trend and an indictment on the Muhammadu Buhari administration as complicit in the whole episode.”

 

Another source stated that had the ICC acted; these individuals should be facing charges for crimes against humanity.

 

"The Nigerian Army tops the list of violators. In North East Nigeria alone, several innocent people were killed arbitrarily under cover of fighting Boko Haram insurgents. The same happened in the South East where hundreds of innocent people were killed without evidence linking them to any wrongdoing.

 

“The Nigerian Army being at the forefront of the campaign indeed committed several ignoble acts in North East, South East and North West. They killed and buried people in mass graves. It was such a gory episode that reduced the value of human life.

 

The source further added that the Nigerian authorities seemed to be nonchalant in addressing these human rights violations and instead saw them as acting in the country's best interest.

 

“How could one explain where the government that is supposed to protect the people is using brute force to suppress the people? Hundreds have been killed and buried, and their families have been left in limbo. The perpetrators of these crimes have been celebrated. This is an anomaly.

 

"The government is unconcerned about its human rights rating globally and has continued to frustrate the efforts of the ICC in bringing these violators to justice. The past seven years in Nigeria have been hellish for some families whose breadwinners and patriarchs have vanished without any trace. This is the starkness of the reality on the ground."

 

There are also feelers that prosecutors at the ICC are worried about the non-cooperation it has received from the Nigerian government in prosecuting persons culpable in crimes against humanity.

 

A source privy to the reservations expressed by the prosecutors at the ICC stated that the court is planning a new strategy to ensure that those culpable are brought to justice.

 

“The emphasis is now on the new government, where such persons might likely not enjoy government immunity at the end of this administration. Analysts believe that such a posture by the administration has made the government very unpopular globally and unable to get any international support anywhere,” he told SaharaReporters.

 

“I can tell you that the ICC is not relenting. Efforts are well underway to get these culprits to book. It is envisaged that the new government in Nigeria might be cooperative with the ICC in a bid to get credibility in the international community.

 

"We might see some high-profile persons within the military face charges for crimes against humanity soon. The new government might not want to carry the baggage of the Muhammadu administration. This is general thinking. But again, our fingers are crossed.”

 

In a similar vein, a source in the military stated that upon the expiration of Buhari’s administration, the diplomatic immunity enjoyed by some former service chiefs would elapse, thereby paving the way for unhindered prosecution of those under whose command these violations were committed.

 

“This administration indeed shielded some powerful persons. Even though it seemed like a masterstroke by granting them diplomatic immunity, I am not sure the immunity will continue at the end of this administration.

 

“People must be accountable for their actions while in office. They must have acted based on superior orders. But again, the deed has been done, and the onus lies on them to defend their actions instead of hiding under cover of diplomatic immunity."

 

Recently, an international news agency, Reuters, accused the Nigerian Army of killing children in its war against Islamist insurgents in the country's Northeast.

 

The report based its findings on more than 40 soldiers and civilians who said they witnessed the military kill children or saw children's corpses after a military operation.

 

These sources included both parents and other civilian witnesses, as well as soldiers who said they participated in dozens of military operations in which children were slaughtered.

 

Together, their estimates added up to thousands of children killed.

 

The organisation earlier reported how the army ran an abortion programme in the Northeast that terminated the pregnancies of thousands of women and girls, many of whom had been captured and raped by insurgents.

 

Forced abortions, too, may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, said O’Brien, Hale and two other legal experts.

 

On December 9, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Nigerian authorities to investigate the findings in the Reuters abortion report.

 

Recently, Nigerian soldiers have invaded communities in the Southeast part of the country, killing residents and burning houses.

 

Topics
Human Rights