Nigeria – Events of 2016: Conduct of Security Forces

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Conduct of Security Forces

Across the country, allegations of abuses including arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, forced disappearance, and extrajudicial killings continue to trail security operations.

In July, a state government-instituted commission of inquiry recommended that soldiers involved in the killing of 347 members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Zaria, Kaduna state between December 2015 12 and 14, be prosecuted. Authorities have yet to implement the commission’s recommendations.

In February and May, security forces were accused of killing at least 40 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). The groups are advocating for the separation of Biafra—mainly made up of Igbo-speaking people in the southeast—and the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader detained and undergoing trial for treason since October 2015.

In the crude oil-rich Niger Delta, media reports say that on September 8, soldiers seeking to arrest members of the militant group—Niger Delta Avengers—destroyed 43 houses and other properties in Peremabiri, Akamabugo, and Tikogbene communities in Bayelsa State.

The army seemingly yielded to the pressure for reform by establishing a yet-to-be operational human rights office in February to receive complaints of abuses against civilians, and in August the military trial of 20 soldiers for offences, including human rights abuses committed in the northeast, commenced. In October, one of the indicted soldiers was convicted for abuse against a civilian in a non-conflict related incident.

Local vigilante groups assisting Nigerian security forces to repel Boko Haram attacks and apprehend insurgents are also implicated in the recruitment and use of children, and the ill-treatment and unlawful killing of Boko Haram suspects. At least 280 members of the groups were formally recruited into the security forces in 2016.

Human Rights Watch – Nigeria in 2017

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