Insurgency: 35,000 Persons Killed In North East – UNHCR

• The UNHCR reports 35,000 deaths in the North-East insurgency since 2009, as revealed during a training on human rights in Yola
• The training aimed to integrate human rights into counter-insurgency efforts in Nigeria’s North-East, with the NHRC acknowledging the military’s efforts

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 35,000 people have been killed in the North-East insurgency since its inception in 2009.

Mrs Elsie Mills-Tetty, UNHCR’s Head of Adamawa Office, made the announcement yesterday during a training for military personnel on human rights, humanitarian principles, and civilian protection in Yola, Adamawa State.

According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), the training was organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in collaboration with UNHCR.

Mills-Tetty, represented by Assistant Protect Officer Umar Abdullahi, stated that this was according to the “Global Center for Responsibility to Protect” report from August 2023.

The importance of these acts to the economic and social development of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, and Nigeria as a whole, she believes, cannot be overstated.

She went on to say that in 2022, the NHRC reported that it investigated human rights complaints and assisted victims in seeking redress.

Mills-Tetty said:

Cumulatively, the commission received 2.314 complaints. Adamawa had 65,456 complaints, which is approximately three per cent of the total complaints from the 36 states of the federation.

The 2022 NHRC report also indicated that incidences of Insurgency, banditry, kidnappings, farmers/herders clashes and attacks by gunmen continued to increase with the attendant number of internally displaced persons who face enormous human rights violations.

She also encouraged the participants to use the training to improve their knowledge of human rights in the course of their duties.

Mr Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, stated in his address that the training was aimed at mainstreaming human rights into the counter-insurgency efforts of Nigerian troops in the North-East.

Ojukwu, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Benedict Agu, praised the Nigerian military and other law enforcement agencies for their outstanding performance in combating the insurgency.

He added:

To further sustain the gains made so far, the commission, in partnership with UNHCR, is here to train key Military officers and men who are directly involved in the counter- insurgency operations in the North-East.

The justification for this training cannot be overemphasized as the war against insurgency is complicated by the asymmetric nature of the conflict.

The insurgents live within us and there is hardly a clearly drawn battle-line between the insurgents and the civilian population, he said.

Ojukwu urged the participants to implement the knowledge acquired while discharging their professional and private mandates.