Amnesty International has said that Nigeria's military top brass were
warned of Boko Haram attacks on the northeast towns of Baga and Monguno
this month but failed to take action.
The January 3 massacre in Baga reportedly killed hundreds of people,
if not more, and destroyed thousands of homes, while the takeover of
Monguno last weekend was seen as a major setback for the security
forces.
The UK-based human-rights organisation said on Wednesday that it
received information from senior military officers and other sources
indicating that defence officials were told about Boko Haram's plans to
attack both towns but did not act on requests to send reinforcements.
"It is clear from this evidence that Nigeria's military leadership
woefully and repeatedly failed in their duty to protect civilians of
Baga and Monguno despite repeated warnings about an impending threat
posed by Boko Haram," Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International's Africa
director, said.
Regarding Baga, Amnesty International said troops in the town in the
north of Borno state reported a build-up of fighters in the area before
the attack.
Rebels also warned civilians about an impending strike and several
hundred residents consequently fled, the group added, citing military
and local sources.
A Monguno resident was quoted as saying that residents there were
also warned about a looming Boko Haram offensive and that this
information was passed on to the military but no action was taken.
'Misleading statement'
In a statement, Chris Olukolade, Nigerian government's defence
spokesperson, said the Amnesty International's statement was
"misleading".
"The misleading conclusions by Amnesty International could have been
avoided if they had made meaningful efforts to verify the inciting
allegations," he said.
It said that Amnesty International's effort to use the activities of
the fighters to find fault with the military's "counterterrorism
operations ... is inaccurate and unfair".
The military has repeatedly described Amnesty International as an unreliable organisation with a political agenda.
Amnesty International made similar accusations concerning an April 14
attack in Chibok, also in Borno, which saw Boko Haram kidnap more than
200 schoolgirls, causing global outrage.
Rights groups and prominent leaders across Nigeria have widely
criticised the security services for their handling of the Boko Haram
campaign.
Civilians have repeatedly been left defenceless in the face of
attacks and President Goodluck Jonathan, who is standing for re-election
in less than three weeks, has so far not delivered on promises to
contain the violence.
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