INTERNATIONAL Criminal Court (ICC) investigators have drawn up eight charges against the Nigerian military and Boko Haram over the last six years following its probe into the atrocities across the northeast.
In a preliminary examination report on Nigeria released yesterday by the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor identified eight possible cases of crimes against humanity and war crimes under Article 7 and 8 of its statute, perpetrated by both the militants and the Nigerian military. Six of the possible cases were perpetrated by Boko Haram while two were by the Nigerian military.
According to the report, Boko Haram’s policy of indiscriminate attacks on civilians considered to be disbelievers, constituted the first instance of crime against humanity. These cases include attacks conducted against civilians when taking control of towns and villages as well as bomb attacks launched against civilians in civilian areas.
“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, 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 added.
In addition, the report stated that the ICC recorded 55 incidents of abductions committed by the Islamist sect between January 2014 and March 2015, involving at least 1,885 abductees mostly from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. Furthermore, the report also added that in 2014 alone 1,123 people were abducted 536 of them being female victims.
The third instance of crime against humanity identified in the report was Boko Haram’s propensity of attacking schools and other educational buildings as well as attacks on students and teachers. School buildings were allegedly bombed, attacked with firearms and/or burned down by Boko Haram.
In addition, as a result of direct threats from Boko Haram, 120 schools were forced to close in 10 districts of the far north of Cameroon. Boko Haram was included as a new party on the list of the Secretary General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict (2014) for attacks against schools among other alleged conduct.
According to the ICC, the increasing attacks on female subjects were for punitive reasons such as attendance of school and for reasons such as cooking, cleaning and other operational reasons. Also, the report observed that the abduction of 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State on 14 April 2014 was the most notorious example of this crime.
On crimes allegedly committed Nigerian security forces, the ICC said the first instance is the indiscriminate arrest, detention, torture and extrajudicial killings of people suspected to be Boko Haram fighters and collaborators. It added that during such arrest operations, boys and men were reportedly arbitrarily targeted and arrested by Nigerian security forces.
"Since 2011, Nigerian security forces have reportedly arrested at least 20,000 people, mostly young men in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. Altogether, more than 7,000 people reportedly died in military detention since March 2011 due to illness, poor condition and overcrowding of detention facilities, torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions,” the reported added.
It revealed that the second instance of crimes committed by the military is its attack of civilian population as well as the recruitment of child soldiers by pro-government militia called the Civilian Joint Task Force. In the town of Baga, Borno State, up to 228 persons may have been killed following a security operation on 17 April 2013 and Human Rights Watch published geospatial images of the area affected, alleging that at least 2,275 dwellings were destroyed in the attack.
Also, according to the ICC, although the central government prohibits the recruitment and use of child soldiers, the Civilian Joint Task Force recruited and used children, sometimes by force. The ICC report corroborates reports from other notable human rights organisations such as Human Right Watch and Amnesty International, which have denounced the abuses perpetrated by Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces.
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