Amnesty International has urged the United Kingdom to stop supporting Nigeria’s war against corruption, owing to the flawed record of the country’s military, in the human rights department.
AI also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to begin the process of investigating war crimes committed by the Nigerian military against civilians over the course of the war.
The international human rights organisation says the United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron, should stop offering military assistance to Nigeria, until the human rights issues have been resolved.
The position of Amnesty International was communicated on Friday, through its UK Director, Kate Allen, who made the call following President Buhari’s visit to the UK for the Supporting Syria Conference in London.
“The UK must ensure that any assistance it provides to Nigeria is compliant with human rights law. It should not provide military assistance to Nigerian troops accused of committing human rights violations.”
“All proposed training or other security assistance must be very carefully scrutinised, and all Nigerian military personnel recommended for training should be vetted to ensure the UK is not complicit in any serious human rights violations.”
“The UK, under its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, must also ensure that a rigorous risk assessment is carried out before weapons, ammunition, or other military technologies are sent to Nigeria, and no transfers should take place where there is a clear and substantial risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate atrocities.”
“This is no time for a diplomatic tap-dances around the issues of mass unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest and deaths in detention.”
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