Why we can’t execute Boko Haram convicts - AGF

ABUJA — The Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, said yesterday that convicted members of the Boko Haram sect in the country could not  be executed because the laws under which they were tried did not prescribe death sentence.

Alleged fake Boko Haram members

He disclosed this at the launch of amnesty’s report on Global Death Sentences and Executions 2015, in Abuja, yesterday. The attorney-general, who was represented by Sylvester

The attorney-general, who was represented by Sylvester Imahanobe, also promised to work with Amnesty International to stop execution of convicted criminals in the country, if the international human rights body proposed a bill to that effect.

He said: “Terrorists in Nigeria are tried under the Terrorism Prevention Act which does not carry death penalty. That is why even those Boko Haram members, who have been convicted cannot be executed because the maximum sentence prescribed by the law is life sentence.” The AGF said he would be pleased to support any bill that came from Amnesty International on the abolition of death sentence in the country,  pointing out that “studies have shown that death penalty has not stopped people from committing crimes.”

The AGF said he would be pleased to support any bill that came from Amnesty International on the abolition of death sentence in the country,  pointing out that “studies have shown that death penalty has not stopped people from committing crimes.”

Malami revealed that the country was working towards ensuring that the prison system was corrective and not punitive, as it is currently. Earlier in his remarks, the Country Director of Amnesty International, Mohammed Ibrahim, said there was a “dramatic global rise in the number of executions recorded in 2015 which saw more people put to death than at any point in the last quarter-century.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Country Director of Amnesty International, Mohammed Ibrahim, said there was a “dramatic global rise in the number of executions recorded in 2015 which saw more people put to death than at any point in the last quarter-century.”

He said the surge was largely fuelled by Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which brought the number of people executed worldwide to  1,634 people, a rise of more than 50 per cent on the year before and the highest number Amnesty International had recorded since 1989.

Why we can’t execute Boko Haram convicts - AGF

Boko Haram: Amnesty International Warns UK Against Assisting Nigeria

Amnesty International has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop side-stepping justice and start investigating war crimes committed by the Nigerian military against civilians in the fight against Boko Haram.

Buhari

Until this happens, the international human rights organisation has asked the United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron, to stop offering military assistance to Nigeria.

Currently, the UK Government provides military assistance to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram. More than 150 British troops have been deployed in the country to offer military training.

Amnesty International’s UK Director, Kate Allen, made the call after President Buhari’s visit to the UK to attend the Supporting Syria Conference in London on Thursday.

Allen said in a statement, “The UK must ensure that any assistance it provides to Nigeria is compliant with human rights law. It should not provide military assistance to Nigerian troops accused of committing human rights violations. All proposed training or other security assistance must be very carefully scrutinised, and all Nigerian military personnel recommended for training should be vetted to ensure the UK is not complicit in any serious human rights violations.

“The UK, under its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, must also ensure that a rigorous risk assessment is carried out before weapons, ammunition, or other military technologies are sent to Nigeria, and no transfers should take place where there is a clear and substantial risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate atrocities. This is no time for a diplomatic tap-dances around the issues of mass unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest and deaths in detention.”

In a June 2015 report titled, “Stars on their shoulders, blood on their hands,” AI detailed alleged war crimes committed by the Nigerian military.

Amnesty also reiterated its call upon the UK Government to ensure any military assistance provided to Nigeria is in keeping with human rights standards, and not provided to units accused of crimes under international law and other serious violations of human rights.

In a related development, AI has entered into partnership with civil rights organisation, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, to protect the rights of Nigerians against torture.

The rights group said it recognised CDHR’s efforts in the protection of human rights, adding that their collaboration would strengthen AI’s global ‘Stop Torture’ crusade.

AI’s Project Manager in Nigeria, Mr. Makmid Kamara, during a press conference recently at the CDHR headquarters in Lagos, said, “Human rights issues in Nigeria are very complex. For instance, the Nigerian Constitution prohibits torture but does not criminalise it. We urge the CDHR and other civil society groups to speak out against this. Torture should be criminalised in Nigeria.”

Kamara said the AI would be assisting the CDHR in the “area of research and investigation of alleged rights abuses.”

CDHR’s National President, Mr. Malachy Ugwumadu, said the organisation was delighted with the partnership, adding that it was in the “process of providing a thoroughly researched database on looting in Nigeria.”

He said the database, which would be made public, would include details on what the looted funds could have been used for.

He said, “The meeting coincides with the country’s challenge in the area of upholding the rights of Nigerians not to be tortured. The inefficiency of Nigerian law enforcement agencies in conducting investigations often leads to the use of torture against suspects.”

Boko Haram: Amnesty International Warns UK Against Assisting Nigeria

Boko Haram has killed at least 1,600 people since June -Amnesty Int’l

Amnesty International said last month that the Boko Haram conflict had killed at least 1,600 people since the start of June in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and called for more protection for civilians.

Abubakar Shekau

An AFP tally puts the death toll at more than 1,320 in Nigeria alone since Muhammadu Buhari became president on May 29.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for three suicide attacks in the satellite towns of Kuje and Nyanya outside Nigeria’s capital Abuja on October 2, which killed a total of 18 people and injured 41.

On Tuesday, Nigeria’s most senior police officer, Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase, said two people had been arrested on suspicion of masterminding the blasts.

The suspects’ identities were not disclosed but Arase said in a statement the arrests had “foiled another attempt… to undertake further attacks in the FCT (Federal Capital Territory)”.

Items recovered from the suspects included 12 “prepared and primed” home-made explosives concealed in soft drink cans, 28 electronic detonator parts and a “large quantity” of bomb-making equipment, he added.

Nigeria’s military has claimed a series of successes in recent months and has characterised the upsurge in attacks on civilian targets as desperation on the part of the Islamic State group-alled militants.

Attacks have also continued across the border. At the weekend, 41 people were killed and another 48 injured in triple explosions in Baga Sola, on the Chadian side of Lake Chad, where Nigeria meets Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

One targeted a fish market and two a refugee camp for those displaced by the violence.

Boko Haram has killed at least 1,600 people since June -Amnesty Int’l

Amnesty International Commissioned By Boko Haram apologists - Nigerian Protesters

• Pass vote of confidence on Nigerian military

ABUJA – CIVIL Groups in their hundreds on Monday morning trooped to the streets of Abuja in a peaceful protest against the Amnesty International (AI) report against the Nigerian Military, describing it as vindictive, lacking in merit and an international conspiracy against the people of Nigeria.

The protest, which started around 9am from the Catholic church close to AYA junction down to the United Nations office in Abuja, according to the group, was to register its displeasure against AI report which discredited ‘our military’.

The AI report tagged: “Stars on their Shoulders, Blood on their Hands” had alleged extra judicial killing and human right abuses by the Nigerian Military in the ongoing war against Boko Haram in the northern part of the country, recommending top military officers, serving and retired for trial in International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.

The President of the Coalition of Civil Society Group (CCSG), EtukBassey Williams, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, told newsmen that most of the information in the AI report was largely false to satisfy a clandestine motive.

He alleged that the AI was commissioned by “some Muslim elites in the north, who are sympathetic to the Boko Haram cause” to sabotage the county’s efforts against insurgency.

Williams disclosed that they were in UN office to submit their stance to the UN Secretary General, Ban-ki-moon, demanding apology from AI while passing vote of confidence on the Nigerian Troops.

He maintained that Nigerians could not be pinched against their military through ‘cheap blackmail’, wondering why AI refused to focus its activities on Boko Haram and their sponsors, saying “AI should not play politics with terrorism, but be objective, meticulous and holistic in their assessment and investigations.

Continuing, he said; “Enough is enough! This is political witch-hunting, AI should be stopped. At this point, we are calling on UN secretary to call Amnesty International to order.

“The report of AI is political, inhuman and international conspiracy against the Nigerian Military and the people of Nigeria.

“AI should leave the Nigerian military alone with the good work they are doing against the Boko Haram. Since the Military started this war no international support, why should they (AI) come now and victimizing our military?

“We pass a vote of confidence on the Nigerian Military and also call on AI to withdraw that petition against the Nigeria Military in the International Criminal Court (ICC).”

While collecting the letter from the coalition for onward submission to the UN Secretary General, Ban-ki-moon, the UN official , who preferred anonymity said they would ensure that the report is delivered timely to the appropriate authority.

“We are not suppose to react to this, ours is to collect and submit to the UN Secretary General,” the official told reporters who asked him for reaction.

 

Amnesty International Commissioned By Boko Haram apologists - Nigerian Protesters

Military pleads for time to reply Amnesty International over war crime allegation

The Nigerian military has pleaded for time to enable it study the report, containing allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses levelled against officers and men by the Amnesty International (AI)

Nigeria military

The AI has, on June 3, released a report, indicting some past and serving military officers of war crimes in the course of the counter-insurgency campaign in Northeastern Nigeria.

But a statement yesterday by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, accused the AI of rehashing the same report since 2011 and presenting it to the public.

“Amnesty International report was released on 3 June 2015. Therefore, the Nigerian military as a responsible corporate organisation is bound to  respond to these allegations in order to put the records in proper perspective.

“For the avoidance of doubts, the Amnesty  International’s allegations of human rights abuse and extra judicial killing of civilians are a rehash of the same allegations made against the military since 2011.

“No new facts have been unearthed by the Amnesty International to warrant their repeated allegations.

“However, the figures adduced by the Amnesty International  as victims of extra judicial killing by the military have kept on increasing from 4,600 to 8,000 and even as high as 13,000 civilians.

“The military has the constitutional and moral responsibility to protect Nigerian citizens and cannot suddenly engage in mass murder as portrayed by the Amnesty International’s  allegations”, the statement said.

According to the Army Chief, the military had already begun investigation into the report and that it would require some time to address the issues raised therein.

The statement said: “Consequently, several investigations on these allegations are ongoing. Some investigations have turned in their preliminary reports which have been acted upon. Some of the investigations could not be concluded due to the inaccessibility of the terrain due to the activities of Boko  Haram terrorists.

“Similarly,the Defence  Headquarters set up two Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) to investigate, screen and categorise  suspected insurgents in detention. Out of the 504 suspects screened, prima facie cases were established against 350 suspects and were recommended for trial at the Federal High Court. Their case files were forwarded to the office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice.

“The preliminary investigation reports submitted have resulted in the release of some  detainees who are under age,  women and children from some military holding facilities. Sequel to the report of the investigation panel, 42 detainees were handed over to the Borno State Government on Thursday,November 6, 2014 and another set of 124 persons were also handed over to the state government on  November 8, 2014 respectively.

“You may recall that the released persons were assisted with a token financial assistance of  N100,000 each by the military. The living   condition of the detainees was improved upon with  the decongestion of holding facilities.

“Additionally,  the Code of Conduct for troops in the North East and other Internal  Operations and Rules of Engagement clearly spelt out guidelines for troops.  Therefore,  the Nigerian military does not in any way condone indiscipline or breach of such regulations, let alone wanton killing or destruction. The Nigerian military collaborates with the International Committee of the Red Cross on training of personnel on laws of armed conflict and humanitarian law regularly”.

The statement added that the Nigerian Senate and the National Human Rights Commission had also conducted independent investigations into the allegations.

It continued: “It is worthy to note that the Human Rights Watch on some occasions had to recant its allegations of human rights abuses by the Nigerian military after thorough investigation.

“The military requested the  Amnesty International to provide a member for the investigation panel to look into the allegations, but the invitation was not honoured by  the Amnesty International.

“The essence of offering the  Amnesty International the  membership of the investigation panel was to guarantee fairness and justice, while proving to the world that the military has nothing to hide or cover up. The office of the Attorney General of the Federation was also carried along in all the investigations.

“The military is still  conducting  investigations on the Amnesty International’s  allegations. In the course of forensic investigations, the withdrawal of troops from the frontline for investigation tends to dampen the morale of soldiers and distract ongoing operations against insurgents.   This is one reason why the understanding of the Amnesty International would be worth the while.

” The Amnesty International wrote a five-point questionnaire to the Nigerian military in November 2014, alleging extra judicial killing of some groups of people by the military.

“The military responded to the five-point questionnaire immediately and in December,  precisely 23 December, 2014, the Amnesty International sent another 37-point questionnaire to the Nigerian military which was answered.

“The  e-mail and hard copy were delivered to the Amnesty  International Headquarters in London on 23, December 2014.  If the military had anything to hide, it would not have responded to the 37 questions and others, especially in the light of the constraints of timing”.

The Army Chief stated further that the military authorities had facilitated a visit to the detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the various detention facilities at the shortest notice.

The military, he said, would not have allowed access to the facilities and other operational areas if there was anything to hide.

Military pleads for time to reply Amnesty International over war crime allegation

Buhari to review Amnesty International allegation against military

President Muhammadu Buhari said Wednesday he will review a report by the human rights group, Amnesty International, alleging widespread torture and extrajudicial killings by Nigerian military in the fight against Boko Haram.

Buhari

In a report published Wednesday, Amnesty International accused the military of being responsible for the deaths of 8,000 prisoners.

The report listed senior military commanders, including serving and past service chiefs, it suggested should be investigated for possible war crimes.

Mr. Buhari said he will review the report.

The Senior Special Assistant (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, said in a statement in Niamey, Niger Republic on Wednesday, that Mr. Buhari has received the report which he said contains many disturbing allegations.

According to Mr. Shehu, President Buhari assured his administration will study the document and act appropriately.

“I assure you that your report will be looked into,” President Buhari was quoted as saying.

He said without meaning to prejudice the outcome of any investigation, Nigerians needed to be reassured that “this administration will leave no stone unturned to promote the rule of law, and deal with all cases of human rights abuses”.

“Respect for human rights and adherence to the rule of law are the life and soul of the democratic system. We will not tolerate or condone impunity and reckless disregard for human rights,” he said.

Buhari to review Amnesty International allegation against military

Amnesty International Blackmailing Badeh, Others - DHQ

The Defence Headquarters on Wednesday accused Amnesty International of blackmailing the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and the nation’s military hierarchy.

It accused the rights watchdog of premeditated indictment aimed at discrediting the country for whatever purpose.

The military said the Amnesty report has confirmed the organization’s alleged questionable interest in the counter-terrorism efforts in Nigeria.

The DHQ, which made its position known in a statement in Abuja through the Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, faulted Amnesty for relying on spurious and manipulated statistics.

The statement said: “The Defence Headquarters has noted with dismay the gruesome allegations made by the Amnesty International against some senior military officers serving and retired of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

“It is unfortunate that all efforts made in the allegation were geared towards continuation of blackmail against the military hierarchy in which the organization had embarked upon since the inception of military’s action against terrorist in the Northeast.

“The officers mentioned in the report have no reason, whatsoever, to indulge in the allegation made against them.”

The DHQ accused Amnesty of premeditated indictment to discredit Nigeria.

It explained that all the allegations raised by the organization had been responded to and cleared in the public.

Amnesty International Blackmailing Badeh, Others - DHQ

Amnesty International accuses Badeh, Minimah, Ihejirika, others “potentially” guilty of war crimes

Global human rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI) has called for the immediate investigation of top past and present military commanders for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Nigeria military in its fight against Islamist extremist insurgents, Boko Haram.

Alex Badeh Ibrahim Seid Mahamat

A report released Wednesday titled: Stars on their shoulders. Blood on their hands: War crimes committed by the Nigerian military, AI alleged that over 7,000 men and boys suspected to be member of the Boko Haram have died in military detention since March 2011, and more than 1,200 others have been unlawfully killed since February 2012.

Amnesty International claimed that the report provides compelling evidence gathered from interviews with over 400 victims, senior military officials, and leaked military reports and correspondences to warrant investigations into “individual and command responsibilities of soldiers, and mid-level and senior-level military commanders up to the Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Army Staff who should be investigated for the alleged war crime and crime against humanity”.

The report further listed nine former and present top military commanders that should be investigated. They include: Major General John A.H. Ewansiha, Major General Obida T Ethnan, Major General Ahmadu Mohammed, Brigadier General Austin O. Edokpayi, and Brigadier General Rufus O. Bamigboye for potential individual or command responsibility for the war crimes of murder, torture and enforced disappearance.

Other top military commanders named by AI are: General Azubuike Ihejirika, Chief of Army Staff, Sept 2010 – Jan 2014, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, Chief of Defence Staff, Oct 2012 – Jan 2014, Air Chief Marshal Badeh, Chief of Defence Staff, Jan 2014 – date, General Ken Minimah, Chief of Army Staff, Jan 2014 -date, whom AI said should be investigated for “potential command responsibility for crimes of murder, torture and enforced disappearance committed by their subordinates.” The organisation further added that the above persons should be held responsible if they knew of the commission these crimes and did not take appropriate steps to prevent them or ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

AI therefore called on the Nigerian government to undertake prompt, independent and effective investigations of the allegations.

“This sickening evidence exposes how thousands of young men and boys have been arbitrarily arrested and deliberately killed or left to die in detention in the most horrific conditions. It provides strong grounds for investigations into the possible criminal responsibility of members of the military, including those at the highest levels,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Whilst an urgent and impartial investigation of these war crimes is vital, this report is not just about the criminal responsibility of individuals. It is also about the responsibility of Nigeria’s leadership to act decisively to end the pervasive culture of impunity within the armed forces,” he added.

Gruesome and Horrific treatment of Detainees

The report revealed gruesome and horrific treatment of suspects, some as young as nine years old. Ii said the military used summary executions, mass murder, starvation, suffocation and torture against the victims.

According to the report, the over 20,000 young men arrested by the military in the northeast since the war with Boko Haram were kept in “extremely overcrowded, unventilated cells without sanitary facilities and with little food or water. Many are subjected to torture and thousands have died from ill-treatment and as a result of dire detention conditions.”

One former detainee quoted in the report told AI that: “All I know was that once you get detained by the soldiers and taken to Giwa [military barracks], your life is finished.”

A top military source allegedly told AI that 683 detainees died in military custody between October 2012 and and February 2013. Further evidence also obtained by the organisation shows in 2013 4,700 bodies were brought to a mortuary from a detention facility in Giwa Baracks, Maiduguri and in June alone more than 1,400 corpses were delivered in to the mortuary.

“The soldiers said: “Welcome to your die house. Welcome to your place of death,” a detainee who spent four months in Giwa Baracks told AI. He said only 11 of the 122 men he was arrested with survived.

Sometimes up to 300 inmates were kept in a tiny cell and communicable diseases such as cholera were rife at the centres.

The detainees are mostly denied of food and water that they sometime rely on drinking others urine for survival, the report claimed.

“Hundreds have been killed in detention either (by soldiers) shooting them or by suffocation,” a military officer told AI

AI said it confirmed that on a single day, 19 June 2013, 47 detainees died there as a result of suffocation.

Most of the victims died from chemical inhalation from the fumigation meant to stop the spread of diseases.

The organisation also revealed that most of the killing were in form of reprisal actions after Boko Haram attacks.

In some cases the military will round up all the young men in a community and kill them under the guise of carrying out mop up operations.

Top commanders knew

Amnesty International alleges that top military commander including the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff, were regularly informed of operations conducted in north-east Nigeria likely to be were aware of the atrocities allegedly committed.

“Evidence shows that senior military leaders knew, or should have known, about the nature and scale of the crimes being committed. Internal military documents show that they were updated on the high rates of deaths among detainees through daily field reports, letters and assessment reports sent by field commanders to Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and Army Headquarters,” the report stated.

“Amnesty International has seen numerous requests and reminders sent from commanders in the field to DHQ warning of the rise in the number of deaths in custody, the dangers of fumigation and requesting a transfer of detainees. In addition, reports by teams sent by DHQ to assess military facilities and “authenticate data”, highlight death rates and warn that overcrowding was causing serious health problems and could lead to “an epidemic,” it added.”

“Despite being informed of the death rates and conditions of detention, Nigerian military officials consistently failed to take meaningful action. Those in charge of detention facilities, as well as their commanders at army and defence headquarters, must be investigated,” said Salil Shetty.

Amnesty International accuses Badeh, Minimah, Ihejirika, others “potentially” guilty of war crimes

Over 150 died in Baga – Amnesty International

1

The Amnesty International on Wednesday released the satellite images of last week’s attack on the towns of Baga and Doron Baga by the Boko Haram sect.

Boko Haram killed in Bama

Based on its promise to investigate the scale of the attacks, the AI had commissioned and got the satellite data of the area from the commercial provider, DigitalGlobe, following initial reports of the attack.

AI, in a press release, condemned the killings, describing the act as “the largest and most destructive” of the Boko Haram attacks.

It said that the images contradicted with the figure given by the Director of Defence Information, Maj.Gen. Chris Olukolade, where he said those killed in Baga could not be more than 150.

According to the human rights organisation, the images together with the stories of those who survived the attack suggested that “the final death toll could be much higher than this figure.”

A researcher for Amnesty International in Nigeria, Daniel Eyre, said, “These detailed images show the devastation of catastrophic proportions in the two towns, one of which was almost wiped off the map in the space of four days.

“Of all Boko Haram assaults analysed by Amnesty International, this is the largest and most destructive yet. It represents a deliberate attack on civilians whose homes, clinics and schools are now burnt out and ruined.”

The human rights organisation asked the Boko Haram sect to stop killing civilians, noting that the deliberate destruction of lives and properties were war crimes and crimes against humanity which must be duly investigated.

The AI said the destruction shown in the images confirmed the horrific testimonies that the organisation had gathered.

It said that interviews with eyewitnesses as well as with local government officials and local human rights activists suggested that Boko Haram militants shot hundreds of civilians.

A man in his 50s, narrated what happened during the attack to Amnesty International.

He said, “They killed so many people. I saw maybe around 100 killed at that time in Baga. I ran to the bush. As we were running, they were shooting and killing.”

The witness said he hid in the bush and was later discovered by Boko Haram fighters, who detained him in Doron Baga for four days. Those who fled described seeing many more corpses in the bush.

“I don’t know how many but there were bodies everywhere we looked,” one woman told Amnesty International.

The statement by AI partly read, “The analysis shows just two of the many towns and villages that fell victims to a series of Boko Haram attacks which began on January 3, 2015.

“The number of structures damaged or destroyed in Doron Baga is likely to be higher than the 3,100 identified, but it proved difficult to delineate and confirm individual structures in the densely packed areas and under tree canopies.

“Before and after images of two neighbouring towns, Baga (160 kilometres from Maiduguri) and Doron Baga (also known as Doro Gowon, was 2.5 km from Baga), taken on January 2 and 7, show the devastating effect of the attacks which left over 3,700 structures damaged or completely destroyed. Other nearby towns and villages were also attacked over this period.

“In Baga, a densely populated town (that is) less than two square kilometres in size, approximately 620 structures were damaged or completely destroyed by fire.

“In Doron Baga, over 3,100 structures were damaged or destroyed by fire affecting most of the four square kilometre town. Many of the wooden fishing boats along the shoreline, visible in the images taken on January 2, are no longer present in the January 7 images tallying with eye witnesses’ testimony that desperate residents (that) fled by boat across Lake Chad.

The AI expressed concern that thousands of people have fled the violence across the border to Chad and to other parts of Nigeria, including Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

It called on the Federal Government to take all possible legal steps to restore security in the North-East and ensure protections of civilians.

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Over 150 died in Baga – Amnesty International

2, 000 likely killed in Nigeria’s deadliest Boko Haram attack – AI

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The Amnesty International has described the January 3 attack on Baga community in Borno State as the deadliest in the history of Boko Haram’s over five-year reign of terror in the North-East of Nigeria, saying about 2,000 people may have been killed in the incident.

Boko Haram killed in Bama

AI, in a statement on Friday, said it had reports of the town being razed to the ground, leaving around 2,000 people dead in the process.

A researcher for Amnesty International in Nigeria, Daniel Eyre, said, “The attack on Baga and surrounding towns looks as if it could be Boko Haram’s deadliest act in a catalogue of increasingly heinous attacks carried out by the group.

“If reports that the town was largely razed to the ground and that hundreds or even as many as two thousand civilians were killed are true, this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram’s ongoing onslaught against the civilian population.”

“We are currently working to find out more details of what happened during the attack on Baga and the surrounding area. This attack reiterates the urgent need for Boko Haram to stop the senseless killing of civilians and for the Nigerian government to take measures to protect a population who live in constant fear of such attacks,” Eyre added.

Since 2009 when the sect began its deadly campaign, targeting civilians and military personnel through raids and bomb attacks, scores of lives have been lost. According to United States-based Council on Foreign Relations, more than 10,000 were killed by the group last year alone, many of them children and old people.

Meanwhile, shooting and heavy artillery fire were heard on the outskirts of Damaturu on Friday, Reutersreported. No further details were given as of the time of filing this report.

It will be recalled that suspected Boko Haram militants raided Damaturu, Yobe State, 130km from Maiduguri, Borno State in early December last year.

The United Nations refugee agency on Friday reported that some 7,300 Nigerian refugees had arrived in western Chad in the past 10 days, fleeing attacks by insurgents on Baga town and surrounding villages in North-East Nigeria.

The UNHCR spokesperson, Adrian Edwards, said UNHCR teams in Chad were at the border and seeking more information on the new arrivals and their needs.

The attack this week on Baga left hundreds of people dead, according to media reports, and forced most of its surviving inhabitants to flee.

The newly arrived refugees in Chad are staying with local communities in villages around 450 kilometres north-west of the capital, N’Djamena. The Chadian government has requested the assistance of aid agencies to help the refugees.

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2, 000 likely killed in Nigeria’s deadliest Boko Haram attack – AI