Amnesty urges probe into reported deaths at alleged Nigerian military-run camp

(AP/File)

• The army denied any links with the camp in volatile central Kwara state
• The victims were among the 1,500 “Fulani pastoralists” people being held at a makeshift camp by the military

LAGOS: Amnesty International has urged Nigeria to investigate reports that 150 people, have died after being “arbitrarily detained” since January at a camp it said was run by the military.
But the army denied any links with the camp in volatile central Kwara state.
The victims were among the 1,500 “Fulani pastoralists” people being held at a makeshift camp by the military after they were displaced from their “homes amid escalating attacks by armed groups” in the state, Amnesty said on Thursday.
“Instead of finding safety, they face overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, restrictions on their movements, acute malnutrition and disease,” it said
Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, called on Nigerian authorities to “promptly and effectively investigate the reported deaths and bring to justice those suspected to be responsible.”
“The so called military detention facility is not under the purview of the military. The military has no business whatsoever with that location,” Major General Michael Onoja, defense spokesman told AFP.
A humanitarian source told AFP he heard of the camp in Kwara with malnourished children, and that there were planning to send aid.
Several rural parts of Kwara have seen an uptick in violent attacks in recent months, with some blamed on jihadist groups.
In February, jihadists killed at least 162 people in the mostly Muslim village of Woro.