Nigerian military encourages sexual abuse, brutality of children at rehabilitation centres – Amnesty
by Kanayo Umeh, Abuja
Global rights group, Amnesty International, has accused the Nigerian military of unlawfully detaining boys and men at a rehabilitation centre for alleged members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram,
Amnesty International said in a report titled “We dried our tears: Addressing the toll on children of Northeast Nigeria’s conflict’ released on Wednesday, said children were locked up alongside adult terrorists who sexually abuse them while military officials look the other way.
The report examined how the military’s unlawful detention and torture have compounded the sufferings of children from Borno and Adamawa States who faced crimes against humanity in the hands of Boko Haram.
The report read in part, “The Nigerian military’s treatment of those who escape such brutality has also been appalling. From mass, unlawful detention in inhumane conditions, to meting out beatings and torture and allowing sexual abuse by adult inmates – it defies belief that children anywhere would be so grievously harmed by the very authorities charged with their protection.”
The rights group said Nigeria must urgently address its failure to protect and provide education for an entire generation of children in the North-East, a region devastated by years of Boko Haram atrocities.
The report further stated that between November 2019 and April 2020, Amnesty interviewed more than 230 people affected by the conflict, including 119 who were children when they suffered serious crimes by Boko Haram, the Nigerian military, or both.
This included 48 children held in military detention for months or years, as well as 22 adults who had been detained with children
Most of such detentions are unlawful; children are never charged or prosecuted for any crime and are denied the rights to access a lawyer, appear before a judge, or communicate with their families. The widespread unlawful detentions may amount to a crime against humanity,” the report added.
The Military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in response to such accusations during a decade of conflict.