Amnesty: Nigeria military in crimes against humanity
Around 8,000 Nigerian civilians have been killed since 2011 as a result of abuses by military forces, Amnesty International (AI) reported June 3. The report attributes civilian deaths to torture, starvation, suffocation and executions by military forces at detention camps. AI's secretary general Salil Shetty said, "[t]he previous Nigerian administration's utterly callous 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' attitude when it comes to the hundreds of stories of death coming out of the military detention centers beggars belief." AI says the military's actions at the detention camps are part of a "witch hunt" in an effort to locate members of Boko Haram. AI called for President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate any possible crimes against humanity committed at the camps and to bring justice to the victims.
From Jurist, June 4. Used with permission.
Note: AI last year accused the Nigerian military of war crimes, and has also accused Boko Haram of massacres.
Boko Haram in deadly mosque attack
Two bomb attacks on the central Nigerian city of Jos left at least 44 people dead the evening of July 6, targeting a restaurant and a mosque. The attacks came shortly after the Ramadan fast was broken, with both sites full of people. Of the 44 dead, 23 were killed at the restaurant and 21 at the mosque. No group has said it carried out the attack, but militant group Boko Haram has attacked Jos before, although it is not in northeast Nigeria where the Islamists normally operate. The blasts are the latest in a series of deadly attacks in recent days which have seen more than 200 people killed. (BBC News, July 7)