Director, Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, made this known in Abuja while reacting to the video released by the amnesty international.
Olukolade, while reacting to the video, said “for the records, we must unequivocally state that Nigerian military takes the issue of human rights seriously and will never condone any proven case of abuse of its personnel.
“The military authorities are deeply concerned about the video being circulated, which unfortunately has also become reference data for amnesty international in its report.”
Olukolade also said that the defence headquarters considered the allegation too grievous to be associated with the Nigerian troops, considering the doctrinal and operational contents of the training imparted on them on continuous basis.
It is on this note that the defence spokesperson said “consequently, the defence headquaters, in addition to the already existing Joint Investigation Team (JIT), has constituted a team of senior officers of legal cum forensic experts to study the video footage and the resultant allegations of infractions in order to ascertain the veracity of the claims with a view to identifying those behind such acts.”
He further clarified that “notwithstanding the cases of impersonation that have pervaded the counter- terrorism operations in Nigeria and many other related issues which cast doubts on the claims made in the video, the DHQ views those grave allegations very seriously.
“Moreso, it borders on the integrity of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation, which must be sustained in the interest of our national survival.
“This will further determine and stimulate necessary legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law.”
Speaking on those in military detention, Olukolade maintained that based on the earlier allegation by amnesty body, the authorities had released some suspects and forwarded names of those to face prosecution to the Ministry of Justice, in line with the recommendation of JIT.
According to him, “the JIT has also regularly forwarded names of those suspects, who are culpable to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution.
“An additional list is currently being compiled to facilitate the decongestion of detention facilities.
“These attempts at protecting the rights of detained terror suspects categorically point to the fact that as a professional institution with thorough-bred officers and men, the Nigeria military cannot be party to such degree of savagery, as portrayed in the video footage available to Amnesty International.”
Meanwhile, Amnesty International says footage obtained from multiple sources on a trip to Borno State, in the north, “includes horrific images of detainees having their throats slit one by one and dumped in mass graves.”
The perpetrators “appear to be members of the Nigerian military and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), state-sponsored militias,” the organisation added.
Source: Tribune
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