In its review of human rights violations in Nigeria, Amnesty International has stated that attacks by Boko Haram had resulted in hundreds of deaths, caused by security forces’ failure to protect civilians.
The global rights movement made this known in its 2019 report which was obtained by POLITICS NIGERIA on Tuesday.
“Boko Haram continued to carry out attacks, abductions, and killings of civilians in the Northeast. The armed group carried out at least 31 attacks that resulted in at least 378 civilians,” the group disclosed.
“The Nigeria Army, Police and State Security Service continued to torture and ill-treat detainees. Communal violence continued in some parts of the country. Freedoms of assembly, association and expression were all under attack as the country witnessed an increasing shrinking civic space. The government also disobeyed several court orders.”
On impunity, the rights organisation noted that little progress was made in securing accountability for human rights violations and abuses committed by security forces last year.
“No one was brought to justice for the killing of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) protestors in different states,” the report read.
Moreover, the group stated that the right to freedom of expression remained increasingly restricted.
The report added: “Journalists, bloggers and media activists who asked federal and state authorities probing questions were variously charged with cybercrime and terrorism under the Cybercrime Act of 2015 and Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act of 2013. Amnesty International documented 19 cases of assault, arbitrary arrests, and detention of journalists.”
Amnesty International, when reviewing the administration of criminal justice, highlighted that seventy percent of prison inmates are awaiting trial. Some of the inmates have been awaiting trial for as long as 5 years.
“On 14 August, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigerian Correctional Service Bill into law, which he said was aimed at addressing fundamental lapses in the Prisons Act.”
It added that on December 2, 2019, five inmates were killed, and seven others injured after being electrocuted at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility in Lagos.
“The prison authorities said they were investigating the incident but did not release any report on the investigation by the end of the year,” the report said.
Nonetheless, the rights group noted that courts have continued to impose death sentences. “Although no execution was recorded, there are still more than 2,000 people on death row.”
“In some states, legislative steps were taken to expand the scope of the death penalty. In March, Rivers state amended its laws to prescribe the death penalty for kidnapping and cultism by adopting the Rivers State Secret Cult and Similar Activities (Prohibition) (Amendment),” the report stated.
