Amnesty International, has called on the Federal Government to provide access to healthcare, education and vocational training for survivors of Boko-Haram insurgencies to aid easy reintegration into the society.
Mr Isa Sanusi, the Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, made the call at a news conference and inauguration of an investigative report in Abuja.
The report entitled: ‘Help us build our lives: Girl survivors of Boko Haram and military abuses in North-East Nigeria’, was unveiled by Amnesty International to highlight the plight of survivors of Boko-Haram attacks.
Sanusi said that the report revealed the plight of girls and young women who escaped Boko Haram captivity in the north-eastern part of the country who are faced with further suffering, including unlawful detention, among others.
‘The report investigated how girls survived trafficking and crimes against humanity by Boko Haram insurgents.
These include abduction, forced marriage, enslavement and sexual violence.
‘The report is
based on 126 interviews, including 82 with survivors that were conducted in-person in the north-eastern part of the country and remotely between 2019 and 2024,” he said.
Sanusi said that on April 4, Amnesty International wrote to Nigerian federal and state authorities, as well as to UN offices, with its research findings.
‘Nearly 50 girls and younger women told Amnesty International they risked their lives and the lives of their children to successfully escape Boko Haram,’ he said.
Sanusi said that many women and girls experienced harrowing journeys lasting up to days where they survived with little food found and water.
The report said that 31 girls and young women said they were unlawfully held in military detention for almost four years between 2015 and mid-2023, typically because of their perceived association with Boko Haram.
Sanusi said that in addition to these, they were not receiving adequate support as they attempt to rebuild their lives after so many years of horrific and traumatic experience
.
He added that the girls and women after escaping terrorist captivity also faced abuses in prolonged and unlawful detention which called for concerns.
‘Those not unlawfully detained were left to fend for themselves in displacement camps amidst millions of other people needing humanitarian assistance,’ he said.
Sanusi said that some of the survivors were reunited with their surrendered Boko Haram ‘husbands’ in a government-run transit camp, exposing them to the risk of continued abuse.
According to him, the call for their support to settle well into the society is necessary because their unique experiences and needs have not been given the deserved attention.
He said that to this end, Amnesty International therefore, recommended that international partners and the Nigerian authorities should support these girls and young women.
This, he said, was to enable them to get the assistance they needed to rebuild their lives with dignity and in safety.
Sanusi said that Amnesty International was calling on the
Nigerian government authorities, UN agencies and donor governments, to urgently make available tailored reintegration services for these girls and young women.
‘Amnesty International urges the Nigerian authorities to ensure girls and young women have a meaningful alternative to being returned to their Boko Haram ‘husbands’ and given necessary support to rebuild their lives.
‘Relevant authorities should ensure their livelihood support among others to enable the survivors to live well,’ he said.
Also speaking, Mr Auwal Rafsanjani, Chair Board of Trustees, Amnesty International, reiterated the need to punish both the state actors and non-state actors, perpetrators of crimes to serve as deterrent to others.
Rafsanjani called for provision of centres for the treatment of survivors of terrorist crimes.
‘The government has to play its part in this because civil society organisations cannot replace the government.
‘There is a lot we can do but we are limited, but it is keenly the government that can take const
ituted and necessary actions to address these things.
‘We only bring credible research elements so that the government can take necessary actions,’ he said.
Rafsanjani called on security personal to treat survivors with dignity and respect, adding that all hands must be on deck to address challenges of human rights in Nigeria.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria