Panel Indicts Military Over Mass Killings
The Nigerian Army has been indicated by an investigative panel set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over alleged mass killings at Abisari in Marte Local Government Area of Borno State, in 2016.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in North-East, which sat for nearly two years, released its findings at the NHRC headquarters in Abuja on Friday.
Headed by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Abdu Adoke, the seven-man panel, ruled that while investigations found allegations of termination of approximately 10,000 pregnancies in the North-East untrue due to lack of evidence before its independent panel, the military was indeed culpable of both infant and community killings in its operations on June 16, 2016.
“The panel made its findings meticulously on each of the issues. For the abortion assault, the panel did not find evidence that the Nigerian Armed Forces committed a systematic secret or policy-bringing abortion in the Northeast to the tune of 10,000 abortions. There was no evidence before the panel to prove that.
“But the panel finds the military culpable of infanticide and the killing of community members in the village of Abisare, in Marite local government area of Borno state on the 16th of June, 2016.
“We received witnesses testimonies including those of survivors and relations of the deceased,” Secretary of the panel, Hillary Ogbonna said during a presentation.
Rtrd Justice Adoke spoke about how the independent investigation worked without interference from the commission or any other government agencies in the country.
“It is to the credit of the panel and the secretariat of the human rights commission and the supportive partners today, that I can proudly assert that an extensive investigation based on justice and fairness has been achieved.”
In his remarks, NHRC Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu, said the commission would embark on a series of public consultations and conversations on the report to ensure the implementation of the report.
“The NHRC is committed to ensuring that citizens of the Abisari community identified in the report receive compensation and will continue to work with the military and the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that justice is served. Never again shall these kinds of atrocities go unaddressed,” Ojukwu said.
