Rights group criticises government's stance on killings

A Nigerian human rights group issued a statement on Monday calling on President Olusegun Obasanjo to take responsibility for recent retaliatory attacks by the army against several Tiv communities in central Benue State.

"CRP (Constitutional Rights Project) believes that President Obasanjo should accept personal responsibility for the action of soldiers knowing full well the consequences of his orders and the implications for the sacked villages," the Lagos-based rights organisation said. It was responding to a statement issued on Sunday by the authorities which did not confirm whether the military had carried out the attacks near the Benue/Taraba state borders that left more than 200 people dead and up to 300,000 displaced. The statement, issued on behalf of the government by Nigeria's Minister of Information, Jerry Gana, also reiterated the government's determination to keep soldiers in volatile areas until calm returns.

"CRP condemns the action of the soldiers which amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity," the statement went on, calling on the military authorities to conduct an immediate investigation into the matter. It also urged the federal government to set up a judicial commission of inquiry and to bring to justice those responsible for giving the order for the attacks as well as the perpetrators.

The army went to the Benue/Taraba borders following a request by the state authorities for assistance in their search for a local militia who had earlier abducted and killed 19 soldiers, and to recover their bodies and weapons, the government statement said. The 19 soldiers, whose mutilated bodies were found in the Tiv stronghold of Zaki-Biam, were among troops deployed by the federal government to end months of low-level clashes over land ownership between ethnic Tiv and Jukun communities. Nigeria's military authorities have denied reports that its troops were involved in any retaliatory attacks against the Tivs.