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City of Damaturu-EU, France, HRW condemn attacks -Arewa pleads for peace
Detectives yesterday began the grilling of the nine Boko Haram members arrested over last weekend’s bombing of Damaturu and Potiskum in Yobe State.
The suspects, whose arrests The Nation reported exclusively yesterday, were said to have made “useful” statements, which could lead to the tracking of others on the run.
Also yesterday, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Boko Haram (Western education is sin) sect has killed about 425 people so far.
The HRW urged the Federal Government to act swiftly to bring those behind the killing of about 150 people – the number said to have died in the Yobe attacks – to justice.
According to a source, who spoke in confidence, the nine suspects are being quizzed at a highly-fortified security post in Damaturu, capital of Yobe State.
He said: “We have started interrogating the suspects. They have made useful statements that could assist security agencies in determining the motive behind the deadly attacks and assist in tracking down those still fleeing.
“Security agencies are already on the trail of other suspects, who were also central to the bombings in Damaturu and Potiskum.
“For security reasons, we may relocate those arrested suspects to Abuja, any moment from now, for a more comprehensive grilling because the sect could be out for reprisals.”
Responding to a question, the source added: “Intelligence reports have shown that the Boko Haram sect is desperate to free all its members in the net of security agencies.
“We have, therefore, provided water-tight security in all the formations where those previously arrested are being kept.”
The bombings that killed about 150 people are an indefensible attack on human life, HRW said yesterday.
Since the beginning of the year, Boko Haram has been implicated in attacks that have killed more than 425 people, including police officers, soldiers, community leaders, politicians, Islamic clerics, Christian pastors, and church members. Last weekend’s attacks recorded the highest death toll in a single day since Boko Haram began its campaign of violence in July 2009.
“Boko Haram has once again demonstrated its utter disregard for human life,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at HRW. “The authorities should act swiftly to bring to justice those responsible for these terrible crimes and for earlier attacks that left hundreds dead.”
The latest attacks, including an apparent suicide car bombing, targeted the police state headquarters in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, as well as police housing, government buildings, banks, and at least six churches. The group also same day, carried out several attacks in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, and a suicide car bomb attack on the headquarters of the military task force, and attacks in Potiskum, Yobe State.
HRW has documented dozens of attacks by suspected Boko Haram members in the last one year including attacks on police stations, military facilities, prisons, banks, beer halls, and churches.
On August 26, a suicide car bomb attack at the United Nations headquarters in Abuja killed 24 people and left more than 100 injured.
Alleged Boko Haram members have gunned down many police officers in the streets and outside their homes, or dragged them out of their cars and killed them in front of their families.
Many others have been killed during attacks on police stations or while guarding government buildings, banks, and churches. These attacks have killed more than 70 police officers so far this year. Most of these incidents took place in Borno State, but attacks have also been carried out in Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, and Sokoto.
Violence associated with Boko Haram (Western education is a sin) can be traced to five days of clashes in July 2009 between the group and members of the security forces in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, and Kano states that left more than 800 people dead, including about 30 police officers.
HRW has also documented serious abuses, including extrajudicial executions, by the police and military in response to the Boko Haram violence. It said: “The police, and in some cases the military, have carried out extrajudicial executions of suspected members of the group, including those who were publicly executed at the police state headquarters in Maiduguri. Those summarily executed included Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf on July 30, 2009, and Yusuf’s 72-year-old father-in-law, Baba Fugu Mohammed, the following day. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that both men were shot by the police officers outside the police headquarters.
“The Borno State High Court in April last year found that the killing of Baba Fugu Mohammed was “illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of his right to life,” and ordered federal and state authorities to pay N100 million in damages to his family, exhume his body for proper burial, and apologise for their “reprehensive and unconstitutional” acts. Although the government did not challenge the facts of the case at trial, it has appealed the ruling. The appeal has not yet been heard.
“In July last year, the attorney general’s office filed criminal charges against five police officers, including three assistant commissioners of police, for the killing of Mohammed Yusuf and his followers.
“The Nigerian authorities need to ensure that all law enforcement operations in response to Boko Haram are conducted in full accordance with international human rights standards,” Dufka said. “The most effective way to counter the abhorrent tactics employed by groups like Boko Haram is to scrupulously adhere to respect for human rights and the rule of law.”
SOURCE: The Nation Newspaper, 9 November 2011. http://www.thenationonlineng.net
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