Group wants extra-judicial killing in the name of Boko-Haram probed
The Amnesty International has called for a thorough investigation into the alleged death of Boko Haram members who were being detained in various prisons custody in Nigeria by the military Joint Task Force 
(JTF).
In a statement obtained by NigerianEcho, the Deputy Africa Director of Amnesty International, Lucy Freeman said, in accordance with both Nigerian and international standards and laws, deaths in custody require thorough and impartial investigations, arguing that detainees still have human rights which must be respected in all times.
“In many parts of Northern Nigeria, hundreds of people accused of having links to Boko Haram have been arbitrarily detained by the JTF. Many have been detained incommunicado for lengthy periods without charge or trial, without being brought before any judicial authority, and without access to lawyers and families”, the statement said.
The human right watch group disclosed that the evidence it gathered suggests that hundreds of people died in military custody in 2013 alone. Amnesty International noted that the details of what happens behind locked doors in the detention facilities must be exposed, and those responsible for any human rights violations brought to book.
“Amnesty International has received credible information from a senior officer in the Nigerian Army that over 950 people died in military custody in the first six months of 2013 alone.
“Most of the reported deaths occurred in facilities used by the military to detain people suspected of being members of or associated with the armed Islamist group Boko Haram”, the statement alleged.
A large proportion of these deaths are reported to have happened in Giwa military barracks, Maiduguri, Borno State and Sector Alpha, commonly referred to as Guantanamo and Presidential Lodge (known as Guardroom) in Damaturu,Yobe State respectively.
Meanwhile, it said that according to former detainees interviewed by Amnesty International, people died on an almost daily basis in both Giwa and Sector Alpha from suffocation or other injuries due to overcrowding, and starvation.
