Military clashes with Amnesty Int’l over alleged detention of children

The Nigerian military has debunked claims by Amnesty International that children were being arrested, detained, and tortured in its custody.

Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche refuted the claims in a Thursday news conference in Abuja.

In a statement to launch a new report titled “‘We dried our tears’: Addressing the toll on children of Northeast Nigeria’s conflict”, Amnesty International said that it had interactions with 230, including 119 children, who suffered violence.

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It said that it produced the 91-page report following interviews between November 2019 and April 2020 with the subjects who had suffered violence from Boko Haram, the military, or both.

According to the NGO, these included 48 children held in military detention for months or years, as well as 22 adults who had been detained with children.

But Enenche told journalists that no children have been detained in any of its detention centres as claimed by the NGO.

He accused Amnesty International of attempting to undermine the success and efforts of the military in counterinsurgency operations in the North East.

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