Amnesty International Raises Alarm Over ‘Thousands Killed’, Other Violations In Nigeria

Amnesty International has spoken out amid human rights violations in Nigeria, including terrorist attacks by Boko Haram, extrajudicial killings, torture, banditry, and arbitrary detentions.

The international non-governmental organisation stated this in an annual report titled ‘Amnesty International Report 2022/23: The state of the world’s human rights’ published Monday on its website.

With the International Criminal Court (ICC) marking its 20th anniversary, Amnesty said the ICC’s actions begged the question of whether its principles applied equally to victims of crimes under international law in any situation or region.

“While it publicly promoted its absolutely vital large-scale investigation into the situation in Ukraine, it committed much fewer resources to other investigations, such as those into the situations in Nigeria and Palestine,” the organisation noted.

It also decried that “thousands” of Nigerian civilians were “killed, injured or displaced” by the armed conflict between Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP) and the Nigerian military in the North-East.

All parties to the conflict committed violations of international law, including war crimes, with impunity,” Amnesty added.

The organisation also noted that, elsewhere, unlawful killings and violence were perpetrated by bandits and the authorities responded with enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.

“Media outlets and journalists had their freedom of expression curtailed by the authorities. Activists and protesters faced restrictions on their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“More than 60,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes. Failure to protect people from the effects of climate change led to deaths and displacement,” it said.