New Telegraph

Intersociety: Nigerian Army killed 350 Christian civilians in 10 months

A human rights research and advocacy group, International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), has said that the Nigerian military within 10 months allegedly killed 350 Christian civilians in the country.

 

Intersociety in a statement signed on Saturday, April 10, by Emeka Umeagbalasi, accused the army of massacring defenceless Christian civilians with uttermost impunity.

 

The group said in the last ten months surveyed, 350 defenceless Christian civilians, if not more, had been massacred by the army in its peacetime internal security operations (non-war situations).

 

The body said the most disheartening of it all was that the defenceless victims, slain on the grounds of their religion and ethnicity, were massacred by soldiers in revenge for loss of their colleagues.

 

The group lamented that it had become a norm in Nigeria that; ‘when criminal citizens attack and kill soldiers, the army turns around and massacres defenceless civilians, especially Christian civilians in revenge and labelled the slain victims as ‘hoodlums.’ Explaining how 350 Christian civilians were massacred by the army in 10 months, Intersociety gave a list of events and places the alleged massacre took place, the date and months. It said: “In Takum, Taraba State, 30 unarmed Christian civilians were killed by soldiers on 29th/30th June, 2020 and at Emene in Enugu State, at least 30 Christian civilians were killed.

 

On Oct 20, 2020, at least 20 mostly Christians were killed at Lekki in Lagos State and across the South-East during the #EndSARS protests in the same Oct 2020, at least 30 defenceless Christian civilians were killed by soldiers in Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Imo and Ebonyi states.

“Between October 21 and mid-November 2020, the army massacred at least 102 Christian civilians in Obigbo and environs in Rivers State. Between 14th and 22nd January 2021, the army killed at least ten Christian civilians, including six farmers in Orlu, Imo State.

 

“On April 5, 2020, at least 30 Christian civilians were killed by soldiers in Essien- Udim, Akwa Ibom State and between 6th and 7th April, 2021, 100 Christian civilians or more were massacred by soldiers in Shangev-Tiev, Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State and dozens of others were still missing. These are just to cite but a few.”

 

Intersociety faulted the deployment of Muslims to head military, intelligence and security formations in the Christian dominated parts of the country, describing it as part of the jihadist agenda.

 

The group said it has also investigated and found that one of the major triggers of army targeted massacre of defenceless Christian civilian population at the slightest or no provocation in Nigeria, especially in Christian held part, was domination and control of key army commands in the areas by senior officers of Fulani-Hausa Muslim extraction.

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