Nigeria: Parliament probes army rape allegations

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigerian parliament on Wednesday set up a panel to probe a recent report by Amnesty International which accused the country's security agencies of rape and sexual abuse of women victims of the Boko Haram crisis.

In the report issued in May, the rights watchdog quoted multiple women in displaced persons’ camps who were reportedly starved, tortured and forced to have sex with security officials, among other human rights violations.

Abuja dismissed the report as a rehash of old allegations for which court-martials were conducted and many operatives punished, insisting the new report did not offer specific information on the abusers and specific incidents. The army, for its part, accused Amnesty International of malicious intent and falsehood.

But the Nigerian senate said it found the reaction of the government unsatisfactory after a ruling party senator Shehu Sani said in a motion that the report offered specific data, pictures and instances of such abuses.

“The response that followed this report is simply a dismissal by the presidency and Nigeria security forces but I think as a parliament, we have a duty to address this issue,” said Sani.

“As a democracy, we have a twin obligation to prosecute the war on terror and in every possible way protect and defend the fundamental rights of Nigerians. It is a concern that this report infringes on the image of not only the security forces of Nigeria but Nigeria as a country.”