Again, Nigerian Military exposed as Amnesty International reveals how soldiers have intercourse and impregnate female detainees

Amnesty International (AI), Nigeria, has once again revealed one of the horrible things in some of the military facilities in the country where Boko Haram female suspects are kept.

Amnesty International specifically mentioned Giwa Barracks, a military detention facility where persons suspected to be members of Boko Haram are being held.

According to the latest report published by ICIR Nigeria, female detainees narrate how soldiers sleep with them for the female detainees to have access to basic amenities such as food, toiletries, items of clothing and sometimes.

It was also reported that soldiers also have intercourse with the female detainees promising to set them free.

According to ICIR, three former female detainees told AI during separate interview sessions that they had witnessed the molestation going on in the facility.

It was gathered that two of the females said they were victims of such molestation themselves. They identified 10 of the male soldiers responsible, five of whom worked in the health clinic of the barracks.

“We knew them, all the women befriended by soldiers. They always had things we did not have, like soap, detergent and wrappers [clothing items]. Some of the women… had as many as 15 wrappers each [given by soldiers]. The soldiers also bought bread, beverages and other food for their ‘girlfriends’,” one of the former detainees told AI.

Another former detainee narrated how the soldiers included the name of one of their “girlfriends”, who was two months pregnant, in the list of those to be released and she was freed the next day.

One of the female detainees was impregnated
The report also detailed how one of the female detainees was impregnated. The name of the soldier that is responsible for the pregnancy wasn’t stated.

“Since [the soldiers] were the ones that would call the names of those to be released, it was easy for them to substitute some names. The women knew that the soldier’s girlfriend was two months pregnant. So a night before they released some women, the soldier did the documentation for her and the next morning her name was called among those to be released,” ICIR quoted the lady as saying.

Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director Osai Ojigho said that though there were cases where the soldiers did not force the women into having intercourse with them, their actions constituted some form of rape.

“These acts constitute rape as the soldiers took advantage of a coercive environment in which the detainees had little choice but to have intercourse with them,” Ojigho said.

How they oppress the women with their power

According to Ojigho, “The soldiers held massive power over the women; they controlled much of women’s daily life in detention, they held the power to mete out arbitrary punishments on the one hand, or to provide desperately needed food and medicine on the other.

And yet some abused this power. This is despicable behaviour and the soldiers involved must be held accountable.

“These latest testimonies follow a pattern of violation we have repeatedly documented in Nigeria’s prisons. It is time for President Buhari to act.”

It isn’t the first time Amnesty International is releasing human rights abuses by members of the Nigerian Military.

In the past, authorities of the Nigeria Army has consistently denied all allegations of human rights abuse levelled against it by Amnesty International.

Nigerian Army has also accused AI as a terrorist-apologetic organisation that is out to undermine the anti-terrorism activities of the Nigeria Armed Forces.

The Military headquarters hasn’t reacted to the latest revelation.