Nigeria army denies sexual harassment allegations
Sunday June 03 2018
A Nigerian soldier patrols in the town of Banki in northeastern Nigeria on April 26, 2017. Nigerian Army has denied accusations of sexual abuse by the Amnesty International. AFP PHOTO | FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR
The Nigeria Army has vehemently denied accusations of sexual misconduct by the Amnesty International (AI) that its troops sexually abused and raped female Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) at camps in the country’s northeast.
Brigadier General John Agim, acting Director of Defence Information on Saturday told journalists that the accusations were becoming a “another form of terrorist affront outside that of Boko Haram”.
“In the armed forces, we maintain that we do not condone rape and do not have rapists among us. The military has several measures in place to regulate the conduct of troops and to define their relationships with members of their host communities,” said Brig-Gen Agim.
“Amnesty International has not only positioned itself as an enemy of the Nigerian Army but the country as a whole,’’ he added.
Brig-Gen Agim was leading a team from the Nigerian forces to investigate the claims at IDP camps in Maiduguri, Borno state.
In a recent report titled They betrayed us, Amnesty International said five women were raped by soldiers or Civilian JTF members — a loose group of militants —while they were starving at Bama Camp in late 2015 and early 2016.
AI also said ten other women had been coerced to become the “girlfriend” to a soldier at the camp in order to access basic goods needed for survival.