Nigerian Army reacts to alleged extra judicial killing of Boko Haram suspects

The Nigerian Army (NA) has reacted to the alleged extra judicial killing of a suspected Boko Haram terrorist by its personnel.

A video circulating on social media had shown Nigerian soldiers, believed to be personnel of the North East Theatre of Operation, involved in the extra judicial killing of the suspected Boko Haram member.

Responding, however, on Monday, through a tweet on its official Twitter handle, @HQNigerianArmy, the army condemned the alleged incident and vowed to investigate the matter and punish the culprits.

The tweet read, “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a video reportedly showing some NA personnel engaged in unprofessional torture and above all extra judicial killing of a suspected Boko Haram terrorist likely in the North East Theatre of Operation.

“The NA wishes to clearly and strongly condemn the action of those involved (whoever they may be) in the  misconduct, and that the dastardly act is completely unacceptable, unethical and is against the cherished core values of the NA especially that of respect for others and their fundamental rights.

“NA training, Rules of Engagement and Standing Operating Procedures guiding the conduct of all her operations are unambiguous about human rights abuses and extra judicial actions including the rights of the arrested/captured terrorists/combatants.

“Troops in the various theaters of operations in Nigeria, have been consistently warned to desist from rights infractions of any form no matter the amount of desperation, anger or provocation.”

NA added that it “does not license, encourage or condone indiscipline, unprofessional conduct especially extra judicial execution of suspects or combatants. Where ever, such is noticed or reported, once it is confirmed, appropriate decisive sanction or punishment is usually immediately meted out to the perpetrators and this case would never be an exception.

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“Accordingly, on seeing the gory video, NA has commenced thorough investigation to apprehend the culprits with the aim to deal with them in accordance with the extant military justice system. Members of the public will surely be informed of the results of the actions taken so far.

“The NA, as a responsible and law abiding organization, will remain professional in the discharge of its constitutional roles and will continue to operate within the ambit of the law in line with the local and international best practices.”

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