DHQ dismisses Amnesty’s report on military killings

The Nigerian military has urged the public to disregard a report by Amnesty International (AI) on the alleged killing of old persons in the Northeast by troops.

The global human rights watchdog had published a report, titled: My Heart is in Pain: Older People’s Experience of Conflict, Displacement, and Detention in Northeast Nigeria, in which it accused troops of war crimes against the aged.

The 67-page report, which was published on Monday, alleged that the military and Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) were killing old people in disproportionate levels in the Northeast.

It added that the aged, mainly inhabitants of territories occupied by the terrorists, were either killed or detained unlawfully due to their inability to flee attacks or resolve to stay in the communities.

AI claimed to have reviewed 120 images of bodies from the barracks to a local mortuary and spoke to individuals with insider knowledge, who estimated that “15 to 25 per cent of those who have perished are older men”.

In a subtitle: Attacks On Civilians and Unlawful Detention, AI narrated how military operations against terrorists frequently failed to distinguish combatants from civilians and, at times, even deliberately targeted civilians.

The rights watchdog called such incidents war crimes.

But the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) described the report as baseless, saying the research sample size was faulty and might be lacking in credibility.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by Coordinator of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche said the “so-called” research did not meet the universal academic or global best practice criteria of representing sample population.

“For the entire so-called research, the question is, to whom is the loyalty of the respondents selected by AI; Boko Haram or peace-loving Borno citizens? However, it is desirable in the interest of the public to bring out some contradictions in the report that tends to criminalise the Nigerian Military which is not true.

“On page 34 of the report, it states: ‘AI interviewed only a few older people who had fled Boko Haram areas during 2020, so was unable to determine if there had been changes in the military’s behaviour over the last year.’

“Note: The inability of AI to determine the military’s behaviour.

“Additionally, in the said report, the AI claimed that soldiers killed older people, among others who were trying to flee from their homes. This accusation is also baseless as the military is guided by extant regulations and Rules of Engagement.

“AI also admits on page 36 of its report that ‘during previous Amnesty International research, some former detainees, including children, admitted openly that they had been in the armed group – sometimes through recruitment and other times through abduction’.

“’AI cannot rule out that older people interviewed for this report at times supported Boko Haram.’ This is to buttress the fact that the military will and cannot detain civilians unlawfully…

“These, among several others in the report, are obvious contradictions to the portrayal of the Nigerian military by AI. As such, it is a deliberate attempt to discredit the Nigerian military in the fight against insurgency and terrorism in the Northeast, which should be resisted.

“Nigerians should be assured that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will not be deterred in the fight to rid the country of terrorists and criminals, despite the allegations. The report is clear desperation targeted at blackmailing the Nigerian military. Thus, the report should be discountenanced,” Enenche said.