The International Criminal Court (ICC) has listed possible war crimes committed by the Nigerian army and the Boko Haram sect in the last six years of insurgency in the north east.
Premium Times reports that on Thursday, November 12, the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor released a Preliminary Examination Report on Nigeria, in which it identified eight possible cases of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by both the terrorists and the Nigerian military.
According to the report, six of the cases were perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect, while two were by the Nigerian military.
The ICC accused Nigerian security forces of the indiscriminate arrest, detention, torture and extrajudicial killings of people suspected of being Boko Haram fighters and collaborators.
The second instance of crimes committed by the military is its attack on the civilian population as well as the recruitment of child soldiers by the pro-government militia the Civilian JTF.
On Boko Haram, the ICC said that the militants were liable for indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians.
“This case includes attacks conducted against civilians when taking control of towns and villages as well as bomb attacks launched against civilians in civilian areast.
“From January 2013 to March 2015, 356 reported incidents of killings can be attributed to Boko Haram in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Plateau, Kano, the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), Gombe, Kaduna, Bauchi in Nigeria as well as occasionally in Cameroon (since February 2013) and Niger (Dumba and Diffa, since January 2015) which led to the killing of over 8,000 civilians.
“Following military operations since February 2015 during which territory previously held by Boko Haram was recaptured, mass graves or other sites with decomposed bodies were discovered allegedly containing the bodies of civilians killed by Boko Haram,” the report read.
Source:- Premium Times
