Today on the Kura Bari programme we are discussing the courts martial of 158 military personnel, all serving the counter-insurgency Operation Hadin Kai, who have been charged with unregimented behaviour, ill-discipline and general misconduct.
The Nigerian army’s joint task force inaugurated two courts martial in Maiduguri in Borno State and in Damaturu in Yobe State on Saturday, the 9th of October.
The military personnel involved comprises 130 soldiers and 28 army officers.
The courts martial were set up at a time when thousands of victims and their relatives have accused soldiers of brutality. Many have been calling for justice for more than a decade.

The Nigerian army has been accused severally for poor human rights records by international institutions, such as Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch.

In its 2020 report on Nigeria, Amnesty International said: “The government failed to promptly, thoroughly and effectively investigate allegations of human rights violations and abuses or bring suspected perpetrators to justice. In particular, no genuine steps were taken to investigate or prosecute crimes under international law committed by Boko Haram or the Nigerian military in the context of the conflict in the northeast.”

Our guests are:
• Mohammed Umaru, a legal officer at the Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development; and
• Bulama Abiso, the chairman of the northeast region of the Networks of Civil Society Organisations.