The Director of Legal Services of the Nigerian Army, General Yusuf Shalangwa, has stated that the Nigerian military has not had cases of war crimes being committed by defense personnel in the country.
He made this claim while speaking at a three-day capacity-building workshop for military prosecutors organised by the Wayamo Foundation, the International Nuremberg Principles Academy and the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability in Lagos.
According to General Shalangwa, the Nigerian military is a professional body, which abide by the rules of engagement and the international humanitarian laws.
He maintained that any personnel who violates the rules of engagement of any of the operations being conducted by the military will be investigated and tried accordingly.
General Shalangwa said, “The Nigerian military is a professional body and we are not terrorists like the Boko Haram sect, we strictly abide by the rules of engagement and the international humanitarian laws when carrying out our duties.
“Most of our trials are conducted on television, so it is known to everybody that the Military does not tolerate any act of indiscipline.
“The Nigerian Military has professional lawyers and they investigate allegations of misconduct or war crimes that is leveled against our personnel.
“Like it was mentioned during the training, we have not really had cases of war crimes being committed by our personnel going by the definition of war crimes.
“What we have had is isolated cases of individuals, particularly soldiers, who due to their concerns for their colleagues, who were killed by the terrorists, out of anger go out of their ways to shoot and kill some of the terrorists who were arrested.
“Of course this is not allowed by the international humanitarian laws, but where such occurred, it is duly investigated and anyone indicted is tried and court marshaled.
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