Herdsmen killings: Government has not done enough – AI

Human rights group, Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian government of not doing enough to stem the tide of needless killings of Nigerians over the clash between herdsmen and farmers.

Country Director of AI, Osai Ojigho who disclosed this recently in an interview said every year the crisis has gotten worse with the number of casualties increasing.

She said more people have been killed in January, adding that the violence has been continuing and government’s response to it has been ineffective.

Ojigho explained that whatever that was done in the past was either ineffective or wasn’t the right intervention. “Despite the fact that this has been going on for a long time, can we point out one or two cases where people have been arrested persecuted and fully went through the course of the law to ensure justice. We are talking about people being killed now, it has gone beyond properties.”

She said reasons why these killings have continued unabated are impunity, lack of accountability. “No one has been brought to justice. It is not acceptable for you to take the law into your hands, for you to go and kill people regardless of what has happened to you.”

“We use force when necessary, not just for the sake of using force. And even when necessary, there are guidelines as to how it is used. And we’ve seen cases where the military appears to be unaware of these and abuses now occur or the violence escalates.

We believe the government needs to take control of the situation, because its function and duty is to protect the lives and property of everyone within its territory. And right now they are struggling to do so.”

Also speaking on the issue of human rights abuse, Ojigho said respect for human rights in Nigeria had come to a low level in the last two years.

 “We have also seen cases where communities have been forcibly evicted from their homes and which we have called on the state governments to put safeguards in place to ensure that people have safe and adequate housing.

According to her “arbitrary” arrests of activists and journalists, herdsmen killings, illegal detentions as well as the government’s perceived intolerance to opposing views has been on the rise. 

“If you were to ask me about the state of human rights in Nigeria today, I would say it is at a low level. Because we have been calling for a lot of change in terms of how security operatives carry out their activities so that they do not infringe on the dignity of the persons they have been called to serve.”

“We are watching the situation closely also to see what will happen. Everyone in the country has to be alert to ensure we do not lose sight of the goal which is protecting our fundamental human rights,” she said.