The Federal Government of Nigeria has once again called on members of the Boko Haram sect to lay down their arms and engage the government in a constructive manner to address their grievances.
President Goodluck Jonathan made the call on Monday at an international seminar on the Imperatives of Observance of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Norms in Internal Security holding at the National Defence College, Abuja.
Brutal and Uncivilised
The president also recalled the directives to the Service Chiefs to ensure that relevant human rights are emphasised in the training of members of the armed forces in the fight against insurgency.
He, however, expressed regret that the Boko Haram sect does not feel obliged to basic tenets of human rights, describing them as “brutal and removed from modern civilisation,” killing innocent citizens at will.
He said the military was called in to support and restore normalcy but regretted that sometimes such engagements had had negative effects.
“The government will do all it can to ensure that any allegation of human rights abuse on the part of security operatives will be appropriately addressed,” President Jonathan said.