LAGOS, Nigeria
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the country's military to hold an internal inquiry into allegations of war crimes leveled against top army commanders involved in the counterterrorism campaign in the insurgency-wracked northeastern region.
Garba Shehu, a Nigerian presidential spokesman, said the president would prioritize an inquiry into the allegations made by Amnesty International once he puts his cabinet in place in the coming weeks.
"President Buhari has once again given assurances that his government will closely study the report released recently by Amnesty International, in which top ranking officers of the Nigerian military were accused of gross abuses of human rights," Shehu said in a statement at the weekend.
"The president is disturbed by the allegations contained in the report. The next step is to look into the allegations and confirm or disprove the disturbing details.
"President Buhari has already determined that one of the first assignments of the incoming attorney general would be to look into the Amnesty International report and advise the government on an appropriate course of action.
"This is in addition to the internal inquiry he (Buhari) asked the armed services to undertake by themselves," the presidential spokesman said.
Shehu said the new administration, sworn in May 29, is committed to ensuring respect for human rights and that any claim of abuses under Buhari "would be swiftly investigated and dealt with."
In a recent report, Amnesty International accused the army of human rights abuses that resulted in the deaths of at least 8,000 Boko Haram suspects in the northeast between 2011 and 2015.
The rights body recommended at least nine Nigerian army commanders, including the chief of defense staff and chief of army staff, be investigated and prosecuted for the roles they allegedly played in the crimes.
The Nigerian army has since denied the report as an attempt by Amnesty International to blackmail the military.
