Sex for food: Amnesty International’s allegations too blanket, ineffective – Military spokesman

The Director Defence Information, Brigadier General John Agim has described the recent Amnesty International’s allegations against the Nigerian Military as too blanket and ineffective in tackling the issues it sought to address.

He also noted that “for the Military particularly; on Gender Based violence, rape is an outright aberration. It is considered grievous and cannot go unpunished. ”

Brig Gen Agim spoke to newsmen at a press conference held at the Theater Command Headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole Theater Command Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, Borno Stateon Friday shortly after visits to some IDPs Camps within the city.

The Director said in his speech:

“Gentlemen of the Press, as you have heard and witnessed from the visits to various Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and have interacted with the stakeholders in the camps that the Nigerian Armed Forces has neither molested, sexually assaulted nor raped any IDP as alleged by Amnesty International recently concocted report.

“You have also established that soldiers are not deployed inside the IDP camps.

“This reports of allegations are however, blanket allegations and insinuations as contained in the Amnesty International report as alleged against the Armed Forces of Nigeria are rather very ineffective methodologies to address this ill.

” It is therefore high time we address this issue squarely, rather than resorting to blanket allegations. In the Armed Forces, we maintain that we do not condone rape and do not have rapists among us.

“The Military has several measures in place to regulate the conduct of troops and to define their relationships with members of their host communities.

“Furthermore, before troops are deployed in the frontlines, they are made to undergo mandatory Pre-Induction Training for about five weeks on Fundamental Human Rights, International Law of Armed Conflicts, Rules of Engagement, and Gender Based Violence.

“A Code of Conduct to regulate the conduct of military personnel in the theatre of operation is printed in hard copies and distributed to troops during the Pre-Induction training before they are finally deployed.

“Additionally, there are very effective instruments of discipline in place, to deter would-be erring personnel and to mete out punitive sanctions to defaulting personnel.

“There is a court martial in place at 7 Division where erring personnel have been tried and the verdicts of their trials made public.

“Accordingly, the court has tried and sentenced some service personnel found guilty of various offences in a bid to deter others. Some of these verdicts are as follows

“We must clearly point out here, that the Military has zero tolerance for indiscipline and in addition assures members of the public that it will not treat any report of rape or any other form of gender based violence with levity, if such report is made.

“On the issue of sex for food, it must be clarified that troops are not in charge of distribution of food and other relief materials in the IDP camps, rather, other agencies at the state and national levels, statutorily shoulder these responsibilities and are custodians of relief materials.

“Troops cannot access food that is not in their custody and cannot therefore trade food for sex. Aside, our troops are centrally fed in any location they are deployed, hence possessing dry rations (raw food) is near impossible and therefore does not provide them with any opportunity to trade food for sex.

“Our role in any IDP camp is clearly in the outer cordon of the camp and not inside the camp. Our troops are not involved in the administration of the camp, except where they are occasionally called upon by the camp authorities to maintain order, after which they return to their duty posts.

” Their interaction with the IDPs is therefore very limited and consequently does not avail them opportunity for sexual exploitation.

“As the Armed Forces shares in the emotions and sympathize with the unfortunate situation the IDPs in the north east have found themselves,

“we urge members of the public to be rest assured that we are here to alleviate their suffering and not the contrary. We are paying the price to protect the good people of the north east and to ensure their safety even at the expense of our own lives.

“Just yesterday, troops of 271 Deployed in Operation LAFIYA DOLE Ran into an Improvised Explosive Device and lost 5 personnel in the incident.

“These are among the many other incidences encountered by the troops while securing the people of the north east. We have also gone out of the line of duty to provide aids and life support to the people.

“Furthermore, the Armed Forces have rescued women, children and men from Boko Haram captivity, brought them to safety and liberated their communities. We are working round the clock to fight terrorism and insurgency”.

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