Human Rights Group Raises alarm over chilling killings in South-East, calls for Investigation and probe of Checkpoint Extortion, Others A hu...
Human Rights Group Raises alarm over chilling killings in South-East, calls for Investigation and probe of Checkpoint Extortion, Others
A human rights group, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has called on federal government to direct its anti graft agencies to hold accountable extortionist military, police and paramilitary officers and personnel for their alleged widespread involvement in roadblock extortions and aiding and abetting of related criminal activities perpetrated in the line of their official duties in the Southeast and Southsouth regions of the country.
This is just as the group has raised the alarm over graphic, chilling and shocking killings of innocent persons in South East in the hands of both armed state actors and armed non state actors.
The rights group said that a research it carried out recently showed that the Nigerian military and other security forces, including police crack squads, secret police, sub-state actor killer vigilantes and killer government taskforce have laid siege on South East and terrorising the people since August 2015.
The group’s findings were contained in the organisation’s two special reports on rights abuses and violations in the East with the titles: “Nigeria: Ocean of innocent blood in the East” and “Human Rights made in Nigeria”.
“The armed forces (Army, Air Force and Navy), the Police and the DSS, joined by the paramilitaries and killer-Vigilantes used ‘IPOB/ESN/BIAFRA Terrorism’ as a pretext to secretly massacre 22,500 unarmed civilians and openly killed 9,800 others(totalling over 32,300) in the past nine years and four months (August 2015-December 2024) of military siege and terror in the South East,” it said.
The group stressed that aside from the killings, tens of thousands of others were unlawfully detained and tortured, over 6000 blindfolded or face-bagged and bundled at late night from the East and dumped uninvesto and untried in secret military locations and prisons in outside the South East.
Similarly during the period under review, the group said more than 300 Igbo communities were raised, 6000 civilian houses razed, 180,000 displaced, 1 million frightened and forced to abandon their home and flee, N450 billion defenseless civilian civilian properties lost to military burnings and destructions and N3trillion (presently $2billion or previously about $5billion ) corruptly seized and illicitly pocketed at roadblocks and other gin-points.
“It is very important to clarify that the above enumerated ‘outside the law’ killings and property violence in Eastern Nigeria did not include death of violently and offensively armed members of non-state actor criminal entities members of the armed opposition groups: and members of the drafted Nigerian security forces (state actor and non state actors fighting parties), who died in gun duels or exchange of gunfire; technically and Internationally referred to as ‘battlefield casualties'”.
The group recommended that the federal government should issue firm and immediate directives for comprehensive and conclusive investigations into strong allegations regarding security forces’ complicity in kidnappings, armed robberies, oil thefts and other money spinning violent criminal activities in the former eastern regions.
The reports, which were released during a press conference in Enugu, detailed graphic, chilling and shocking human rights abuses and killing of innocent and unarmed citizens in the hands of both armed state actors and armed non-state actors in the East between 2015-2024.
The reports were presented by Intersociety through its officials, including: Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman; Barrs. Chidinma Udegbunam, Chinwendu Umeche, Obianuju Igboeli and Ndidiamaka Bernerd.
The report further recommended for strict penalties including dismissal from service, judicial prosecution for officers found guilty during such investigations.
It said the federal government should “Order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Independence Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), the Police Service Commission and other oversight State anti-corruption or anti-graft establishments to individually and institutionally hold accountable extortionist military, police and paramilitary officers and personnel and their operational commanders and high commands stationed in Eastern Nigeria for their widespread involvement in roadblock extortions and aiding and abetting of related criminal activities perpetrated in the line of their official duties in the East.
“Such accountability must include strict penalties including dismissal from service, judicial prosecution using Section 99 of the Criminal Code Act of 2004 and Section 108 of the Armed Forces Act of 2004 as well as retrieval of criminal proceeds generated such as
criminal properties and cash deposits located within and outside Nigeria”.
It further urged the federal government to direct EFCC, NFIU, ICPC and other related bodies to specifically monitor ransom payments and suspicious financial transactions across the two regions to ensure that funds used in such criminal activities are traced, seized and money laundering through the banking system frontally prevented and their perpetrators severely sanctioned.
The group recommended the dismantling of road blocks in the region and the use of technologically and intelligence driven security operations in tackling insecurity in the regions.
It also recommended that state governments should refrain from using the state actors or sub state actor vigilante militias and their commanders to attack perceived enemies and being complicit in sub state actor murders, abductions, disappearances and wanton destruction of defenceless civilian houses and their properties.
It added the need to prohibit all forms of commercialisation and monetisation of arrests, detention, custodial bail and criminal investigation and prosecution in the Southeast and Southsouth regions of the country.
“Carry out comprehensive investigations into cases of extrajudicial killings and unlawful executions in Eastern Nigeria in the past nine years and four months including cases involving torture and other cruel treatments, disappearances of dead bodies of victims of torture and their criminal interments.
“Be reminded that Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions had on June 26,2024. called on member-states of the United Nations including the Government of Nigeria to respect
and protect the bodies of victims of unlawful deaths for the purposes of truth, justice and reparations”.
These, the group believed, would mitigate the human rights abuses in the two regions.
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