Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye

Penultimate Thursday, the Amnesty International (AI), through its Nigeria’s office, released a fresh and damning report titled “They Betrayed Us,” on the country and its security agencies. The report, among others, accused soldiers and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) of taking advantage of starving women to sexually exploit thousands of them in exchange for food.



The organisation said its report was based on evidence collected from witnesses in IDP camps in Northeast Nigeria, since 2015. It also accused Nigerian security forces of killing many people who refused to be moved from territories rescued from the insurgents:

“Scores of women described how soldiers and Civilian JTF members have used force and threats to rape women in satellite camps, including by taking advantage of hunger to coerce women to become their ‘girlfriends’, which involved being available for sex on an ongoing basis. The Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF) have separated women from their husbands and confined them in remote ‘satellite camps’ where they have been raped, sometimes in exchange for food.” The CJTF is a community youth vigilance group assisting the Nigerian military in the North East.

The Presidency responded that the report lacked credibility. Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari, on Media and Publicity, said it did not contain “factual leads that could have laid the foundation for investigative actions. The findings were attributed to people but proper description of such people was not provided.

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The Nigerian military accused AI of planning to destabilise and destroy the country, with Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General John Agim, describing the report as false and fictitious: “This malicious trend by AI is becoming a frequent ritual. The military will abide by all Human Rights Regulations as entered into by Nigeria and also go the extra mile in ensuring that the territorial integrity of our nation is well protected.”

Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), equally denied alleged cases of rape and violence against women in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Borno. Its chairperson, Yabawa Kolo, said the agency had not received any case of domestic violence against IDPs in any of the camps across the state.

 The CJTF asked AI to provide evidence on its claims.

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None of these reactions came close to the fireworks that exploded at the public presentation of the report at Yar’Adua Center, Abuja. Drama started when a rights activist, Hajiya Hamsatu Al-amin, corroborated AI’s report, giving vivid accounts of the women and her own experience while interacting with them.

 She said rather than get angry and deny the report, the Nigerian authorities must act and bring the perpetrators to book.
She alleged there were 1,600 of such violated women who have been registered and are willing to talk: “What you have heard from these women is less than 10 percent of the ordeal that is happening there. I believe even if only one soldier raped only one woman, that solider deserves to be pointed out and be punished. Even if it is only one woman that is raped, she deserves to speak out and get justice.”

Director of Protection and Investigation, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Abdul-Rahaman Yakubu, responded: 

“The commission received complaint from some people in Bama concerning arbitrary arrest of over 437 men who claimed that they had nothing to do with Boko Haram terrorism and insurgency. The commission promptly sought the comment of the Nigerian Army over the complaint. The army responded immediately that none of those names could be found in their detention facilities.

“What I did was to forward that list to the commission’s coordinator in the North East and ask her to meet with the petitioners to identify these men. Because, what we have now are names but we don’t know if these people actually exist or not and the Army said none of the persons with those names are in any of their facilities in Borno.”
Fatima Abubakar, a member of Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG), said: “The military will never tell you that they have detained those people. We have people here that their husbands are involved, are you telling us that they are lying? No sir. We cannot sit down and push one paper to the military, another to the National Assembly, we need a truth and reconciliation summit in North East. We don’t even trust the military.”

Sa’adatu Mahdi, Special Adviser to the Chairman of Presidential Committee on North East Initiatives, fumed: “Some people think because of the situation they will get away with what they have done. Accountability should not be seen as an affront to government or any entity.”

Senator 

Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central, lamented: “The humanitarian crisis in the North East has turned into an industry and a source of money for government officials as well as local and international organisations. There is no seriousness on the side of government to address these problems. These many captives and hostages both in Chibok and Dapchi, if they were the sons and daughters of president, ministers, senators, governors, they would have been rescued or released even if it requires giving them money from Central Bank, to get them released.”

Sani Zoro, representing the Gumel/Maigatari/Sule/Tankarkar/GagarawFederal Constituency, Jigawa State, said: “We at the legislative arm can only do what we are constitutionally mandated to do. It is the executive arm of government that is supposed to drive the correct humanitarian responses.”