Security
By Kennedy Nnamani
INTERNATIONAL Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, InterSociety, has alleged that the Nigerian security forces, presently structured along Northern Muslim lines and deployed in Eastern Nigeria, had in 14 months killed not less than 1,150 defenseless citizens of Eastern Nigeria.
This is contained in the executive summary of the report released by the group in Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, on the 19th of January 2022.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, InterSociety, is Nigeria’s leading human rights, rule of law, citizens, public security and safety, democracy and good governance advocacy group since 2008. It is also a knowledge based organization, led by graduates and post graduates in the celebrated fields of law, criminology, security studies, peace studies and conflict resolution, media and journalism, etc. The group is globally rated and respected for its forensic facts findings using knowledge of local and international law and criminology, research, investigation and documentation and several years of field experience. With respect to the subject matter under campaign, the group claims it had meticulously followed and is still following the patterns and trends of the operations of the Nigerian security forces in Eastern Nigeria in the past 14 months (October2020-December 2021).
The group claims that all the victims of the attacks are members of Judeo-Christian Faith and mostly ethnic Igbo citizens.
Following this revelation, the killings represent a monthly average of 85 deaths and daily average of three and could rise to 155 and 5.5 deaths respectively if the presumed dead 1000 missing citizens are added.
Recall that there have been incessant killings, kidnappings, in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria allegedly attributed to the operations of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Eastern Security Networks, ESAN, unknown gunmen that have claimed scores of lives.
Meanwhile, InterSociety group claims that in the same past 14 months, the security forces also abducted and disappeared till date at least 1000 unarmed civilians and taken into security custodies outside the knowledge of their families or lawyers.
According to the group, soldiers of the Nigerian Army are found to be responsible for at least 70% of their abduction and disappearances, while DSS, NPF, Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force are separately and jointly responsible for the remaining 30%.
Surprisingly, some chief executives of some states are not exonerated from these revelations. In the area of ‘perpetrator ratio’, the human right group poses that soldiers of the Nigerian Army and various ‘special squads’ of the Nigeria Police Force are the lead-killers or perpetrators, while the trio of Governors Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State are the most vicariously culpable governors that aided and abetted the killings and property destruction, which include burning of civilian homes and sanctuaries.
The group also alleges that in 2021 alone, at least 270 Igbo Christians were hacked to death by the widely believed Nigerian state protected Jihadists, especially the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen. These deaths as reported by the group had majorly occurred in Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Igbo parts of Delta, Edo (Obiaruku and Igbo-Akiri), Benue and Kogi States; bringing the total number of defenseless citizens traceably killed in Eastern Nigeria in the past 14 months to at least 1,400. This is when added to 1,150 defenseless civilian deaths perpetrated by security forces.
The death toll could be 2,400 if 1000 missing/presumed dead citizens are added
Following the alleged 1000 missing/presumed dead citizens, the InterSociety group claims that it is likely correct to say that in all, not less than 2,400 unarmed civilians lost their lives to Nigerian security forces and the Jihadists in Eastern Nigeria in the past 14 months, covering October 2020 to December 2021.
According to the report from the group, this is on account of the fact that not less than 1000 missing persons are likely to have been killed in custodies and most unlikely to be returned alive to their families again. This is more so when strong evidence abounds showing no traces of location and securing the release of citizens abducted by soldiers of the Nigerian Army in Eastern Nigeria since January 2021.
“From our investigation, most, if not all those abducted by them since January 2021 have never been located by families or seen alive till date.
“Same was the case during and after the Army’s war grade attack on Obigbo in late October-early November 2020. It is shocking that while dozens died in different secret military custodies within and outside Eastern Nigeria, not less than 550 of the abductees were later independently located, out of the number, 418 were freed through courts and 95-100 others were discovered in late November 2021 to have been dumped in Kaduna Prisons and Lock Centres. Over 40 of the abductees were also found to have been killed in custody through torture and infliction of injuries as well as starvation and lack of medical treatment. Estimated number of 200 Obigbo abductees are still unaccounted for and their whereabouts are unknown till date,” the report said.
Intersociety maintains that it has continued to receive enquiry messages from dozens of families of those searching for their loved ones.
The group further said that the Nigerian Army was still acting roguishly by holding their abductees for over a year through intra and inter-agency detention transfers-whereby the abductees are secretly held without trial in several military and security agencies’ detention facilities leading to scores of custodial deaths.
KN
Tags: Kennedy Nnamani
