Amnesty International, AI, has condemned the reinstatement of erstwhile commander of the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen. Ahmadu Mohammed.
The human rights group indicted the former commander alongside other serving and retired military chiefs for possible war crimes following the alleged torture and extra-judicial killings of over 8,000 suspected Boko Haram detainees.
It specifically accused Mohammed of overseeing the killing of 640 detainees at Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri, Borno State on March 14, 2014 after the Barracks’ detention centre was attacked by Boko Haram.
It would be recalled that the Major General was retired in 2014 after a mutiny by soldiers who accused him of knowingly leading them into a Boko Haram ambush around Chibok on May 12, 2014, which led to the death of no fewer than 70 soldiers.
Mohammed, whose vehicle was shot at by the angry soldiers during the mutiny, is reported to have been quietly reinstated by army authorities after he allegedly wrote several letters to the army authorities asking to be recalled.
But in a statement issued on Monday by its Secretary General, Salil Shetty, AI described the reinstatement of Mohammed as a “monumental failure of the government to stamp out impunity for wars crimes at the highest level.”
“Major General Mohammed must be investigated for participating in, sanctioning or failing to prevent the deaths of hundreds of people,” the rights group stated.
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