A picture of two terrorists.
Source: Sahara Reporters

Human rights are norms that aspire to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal, and social abuses. They are the inalienable rights today which all human are equally entitled, irrespective of creed, nationality, political opinion, race, colour, social affinity or gender. Insurgency remains a major source of Human Rights violation in Nigeria. Findings reveal that insurgency in Nigeria has claimed a lot of lives and property; compounded the food and nutrition insecurity situation in the country; aided the spread of infectious diseases; denied millions of children and youths access to education; increased the number of internally displaced persons with dire need of shelter and has caused people to live in constant fear and anxiety.
Contemporary discussions on Human Rights in Nigeria is almost inevitably replete with issues surrounding insecurity, militancy, insurgency, and terrorism. Since 2009, there has been an upsurge in violent activities in Nigeria with Boko Haram insurgency being at the forefront. The spate of violent attacks by Boko Haram has been characterized by the abduction and killing of people; destruction of houses, schools, health care centers, churches, mosques and farms has plunged the country into a chronic state of insecurity. The basics of food, health, shelter, education and protection which constitute security to the individual human rights primarily, has all been threatened by the Boko Haram insurgency.

A terrorist standing beside a damaged military vehicle
Source: Sahara Reporters

Since the insurgency began, there has been about 8000 people maimed and over 12,000 deaths, thereby violating the right to life of these individuals. There are inadequate shelters for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and yet, the number of IDPs is increasing drastically. The killings and abduction of school children and college student by the sect has forced the closures of schools indefinitely and the withdrawal of children and wards by parents from schools still operating, therefore denying them access to education. Food insecurity has further worsened as farmers have fled their farms in fear of being attacked especially in the northern region.
Boko Haram has engaged in terrorist attacks and kidnappings against a wide range of targets in Nigeria and neighboring countries. On the 9th February 2020, Boko Haram killed at least 30 people in an armed attack in Auno. On 16 June 2019, about 30 people in three suicide bombings in Konduga. On 14 January 2019, 14 people were killed by the insurgent group in an armed attack in Rann. On the 1st of May 2018, Boko Haram killed at least 86 people in two suicide bombings in Mubi.
Since 2009, Boko Haram has subjected women and girls to widespread and severe forms of abuse, including sexual slavery, sexual violence, forced marriages, forced pregnancies and forced conversions. The group justifies such practices by its conception of the role of women and girls in society. In one video message in which the group claimed responsibility for the abduction of the Chibok girls, Shekau declared that "God instructed me to sell them, they are his property and I will carry out his instructions". In another message, he spoke of abducted girls as "spoils of war". A 14-year-old girl informed OHCHR she had been raped when Boko Haram attacked Damasak, in November 2014. In her report, the women and children were taken to a house, and 40 girls were selected to marry their fighters. She said she was forcefully married and raped three times before escaping, during a "wedding", with three other girls. In September 2014. Some 150 women at Dalori camp, which opened in April 2015 and hosts internally displaced persons from Bama, had given birth after they escaped from captivity.
As at July 2015, there were 1.3 million internally displaced persons (56 per cent of which are children) in Nigeria (with the State of Borno hosting the largest population). To date, the Lake Chad Basin region is grappling with a complex humanitarian emergency. Over 3.2 million people are displaced, including over 2.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in north-eastern Nigeria. The internally displaced are held in camps, informal settlements, host communities, with families, in rented houses, in places of worship and public buildings and at border crossings. Consequently, their enjoyment of the rights to education, food, health, shelter, and water and sanitation has been greatly reduced. Numerous displaced children have no access to education, while those who remain in their communities often receive poor quality education owing to insecurity, the lack of teachers (who have fled) and the destruction of schools. The protection concerns in some camps for displaced persons in Nigeria include insecurity, tensions among residents, and between them and host communities, and sexual and gender-based violence.
The challenges of protecting the displaced are compounded by the deteriorating security situation as well as socio-economic fragility, with communities in the Sahel region facing chronic poverty, a harsh climatic conditions, recurrent epidemics, poor infrastructure and limited access to basic services. The crisis has been exacerbated by conflict-induced food insecurity and severe malnutrition, which have risen to critical levels in the country. Despite the efforts of Governments and humanitarian aid, some 12.5 million people remain in need of humanitarian assistance in the Lake Chad Basin region, with 5.3 million people remaining food insecure.
According to testimonies received by OHCHR, Boko Haram has recruited and used boys and girls for active hostilities. Some boys were forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, while girls were forced to marry, clean, cook and carry equipment and weapons. OHCHR received consistent reports that some boys and girls were increasingly used as human shields and to detonate bombs, a pattern that has intensified since 2014. In May 2015, for example, a 12-year-old girl was used to detonate a bomb at a bus station in Damaturu, State of Yobe, killing seven people. Similar incidents were reported in Cameroon and the Niger. During attacks by Boko Haram, abducted boys were used to identify those who refused to join the group, as well as unmarried women and girls. Abductees rescued by the Nigerian army from Sambisa forest informed OHCHR that six boys suspected of stealing motorbikes and selling them had had their hands cut off in the Boko Haram camp in Buniyadi, while one male abductee accused of "fornication" had been buried up to his neck and stoned to death.
Asides from the infamous Boko Haram we can equally mention other things like traditional and ethnic issues, banditry and herdsmen farmers clashes. Bandits have been operating in most of the North-west states for over a decade but the situation has gotten worse in the past few years. Banditry is the code name in the region for organised crimes like kidnapping, cattle rustling, mass abduction, arson and even armed robbery. It started as conflicts between farmers and cattle herders but has snowballed into terrorism. This year, bandits shot down an air force jet and have kidnapped more than 1000 people since January.

According to an American Security Project Report (2021), 200,000 people have fled their communities in Northern Nigeria this year, with 77,000 of them crossing the border in search of safer abodes outside the country. In Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna, bandits routinely block roads to rob and kidnap travellers.

According to an American Security Project Report (2021), 200,000 people have fled their communities in Northern Nigeria this year, with 77,000 of them crossing the border in search of safer abodes outside the country. In Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi and Kaduna, bandits routinely block roads to rob and kidnap travellers. They also raid schools to abduct students for ransom. But perhaps the worst hit are farmers in rural communities. Many of them have abandoned their farms and fled to urban areas as bandits steal their crops and burn down their homes and grain silos. An Amnesty International report (2020) showed that 33,130 people, mostly farmers, have been displaced this year in the Northwest.
In February 2019, clashes and reprisal attacks between the Fulani and Adara communities in Kajuru, Kaduna state killed more than 130 people. In Zamfara state, incessant banditry attacks and kidnappings persisted despite the deployment of military troops in 2018 to tackle insecurity in the state. According to credible media reports, over 200 people were killed in the state by suspected bandits in the first 100 days of 2019. The Abuja-Kaduna highway, a major route out of Abuja to the northwest of the country became notorious for bandit attacks and kidnappings. The inspector general of police, Mohammed Adamu said in April that 1,071 people were killed in criminal attacks and 685 kidnapped across the country in the first quarter of 2019 alone.
In Nigeria, serious abuses including indiscriminate attacks against civilians including aid workers, unlawful killings, beatings, arbitrary detentions, torture, sexual violence, looting and destruction of property are being committed by insurgent groups. Most of these abuses constitute crimes against humanity and serious human right violations. It is important for the federal government to take more charge and for state government to rectify stiffer laws against any form of banditry and insurgency. This can be aided with the calling out of these atrocities. The Dorcas Initiative Nigeria remains resolute in calling out banditry, insurgency and human rights violations in Nigeria.

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