×

Amnesty International Report Indicts Nigeria For Endemic Torture

International human rights group, Amnesty International, in a report launched in Abuja on Thursday, says the Nigerian Police and military routinely torture women, men, and … Continue reading Amnesty International Report Indicts Nigeria For Endemic Torture


Amnesty International

Amnesty International

International human rights group, Amnesty International, in a report launched in Abuja on Thursday, says the Nigerian Police and military routinely torture women, men, and children – some as young as 12 – using a wide range of methods.

At the launch of a ten-year report of torture in Nigeria, the Director for Research and Advocacy of the rights group, Mr Netsanet Belay, said that although Nigeria prohibits torture and other ill-treatment in its constitution, the government has continued to turn a blind eye to torture in the country.

Mbazuigwe Onyekachi’s story is one of 500 allegations of torture against security operatives in Nigeria, documented by the Amnesty International in a report titled “Welcome to Hellfire, Torture and Other Ill-Treatment In Nigeria”.

Another victim, Mr Justin Nwankwo, narrated how he was beaten, suspended in mid-air and stripped naked into signing a confessional statement bordering on a murder case.

Stories like theirs and many others have made Amnesty International conclude that not only is torture an integral part of Nigeria’s justice system, there is also a systemic failure to ban and criminalize torture in the country.

The Amnesty report also reveals that there are 12 major methods used by most law enforcement agencies in the country to intimidate victims and also obtain statements from them, including beatings, shootings and rape.

The report also says that since the war on insurgency commenced, about 5,000 Nigerians have been detained without trial and that some of these detention facilities are not even known to the authorities.

The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, speaking for the Federal Government, said that as a signatory to many treaties on human rights, torture is not permitted in the system.

However, he promised that government would investigate the claims and bring to book any one found culpable.