Justice key to ending Boko Haram says AI

Kayode Idowu, Maiduguri

The key to solving Boko Haram crisis proper administration of justice, Amnesty International has said.

Speaking in Maiduguri on Saturday during a solidarity visit to about 2,000 women, whose husbands were allegedly detained by the military for over three years in connection with Boko Haram insurgency, the Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria office, Mrs Osai Ojigho, asked the Nigerian government to ensure all parties in the crisis got justice.

She lamented that a situation where husbands were detained without recourse to law court would worsen the crisis and build bad blood, adding that it was very imperative to bring perpetrators of crimes to justice.

“I know that it has not been easy for everyone, particularly the people of Borno State that have lost so much due to the Boko Haram crisis, to heal from the pains. We have lost many lives and communities. We can only reclaim lives if human rights are put on the front burner of all issues, whether at state, federal or local government level.

We have been calling for justice, justice for everyone that has suffered loss of families, properties and livelihood, justice for those who have caused this pain, who have brought this calamity upon us,” she said.

Earlier, the Executive Director, Al-amin Foundation, Hajjia Alamin Hamsatu, disclosed that a total of 2,000 women separated from their husbands in Banki town, Bama Local Government Area had come together under KNIFAR Foundation to demand for the whereabouts of their families.

She said, “I never knew the world could hear us; I am impressed with these support show AIN and supporters, we call on the CSOs to join us to demands the release of these people.”