Nigeria’s multiple security problems have created a crisis that requires
\nurgent attention and could lead to instability in other African
\ncountries if it is not addressed, a United Nations rapporteur said on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Security forces in Africa’s most populous country are trying to tackle a
\ndecade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast, banditry in the
\nnorthwest and bloody clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming
\ncommunities over dwindling arable land in central states.<\/p>\n
Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary
\nor arbitrary executions, said Nigeria was a “pressure cooker of internal
\nconflict”.<\/p>\n
“The overall situation I have found is one of extreme concern,” she told
\na news conference in the capital, Abuja, where she presented her
\npreliminary findings following a 12-day visit to the country.<\/p>\n
Callamard said the police and military had shown an excessive use of
\nlethal force across the West African country which, combined with a lack
\nof effective investigations and meaningful prosecution, caused a lack of
\naccountability.<\/p>\n
She said the country required changes in the judiciary, police and
\nmilitary to stop people resorting to violence in the absence of justice.<\/p>\n
“The lack of accountability is on such a scale that pretending this is
\nnothing short of a crisis will be a major mistake. If ignored, its
\nripple effect will spread in the sub-region given the country’s
\nimportant role in the continent,” she said.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the ministries of justice, military and police did not
\nrespond to a Reuters request for comment on Callamard’s findings.<\/p>\n
The Islamist insurgency waged by Boko Haram began in northeast Nigeria
\nin 2009 but has spread to parts of neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger
\nwhere members of the group and militants allied to Islamic State carry
\nout attacks.<\/p>\n
The rapporteur also condemned what she said was the “arbitrary
\ndeprivation of life” and the excessive use of lethal force in the case
\nof processions held by banned Shi’ite Muslim group the Islamic Movement
\nin Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Callamard said the move to ban the group appeared be based on what the
\nauthorities thought IMN could become rather than its actions. She said
\nshe had not been presented with any evidence to suggest the group was
\nweaponized and posed a threat to the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria’s multiple security problems have created a crisis that requires urgent attention and could lead to instability in other African countries if it is not addressed, a United Nations rapporteur…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n