Military violence against civilians in northeast Nigeria doesn’t end with raids and “mop-up” operations. Amnesty’s 2015 report noted that “on numerous occasions, particularly following Boko Haram raids, soldiers have gone to the town or village, rounded up hundreds of men and boys and taken into custody those identified as Boko Haram by paid informants.” Amnesty says that most of the arrests it has documented appear to be “entirely arbitrary.” Those rounded up have included boys as young as 9 and at least 30 women and girls. This characterization is backed up by my own sources. “When the military first came, they thought everyone was Boko Haram,” said one man in Maiduguri, adding that the scene reminded him of the “Tom and Jerry” cartoon in which Tom the cat relentlessly pursues Jerry the mouse. After the military’s raids and so-called rescue missions are conducted, those who have been identified as potential members of Boko Haram or who stand accused of being sympathetic to its cause are subject to a screening process in which soldiers attempt to discern their level of involvement. The process is deliberately opaque. Though human rights groups would have an obvious interest in monitoring it, they are kept in the dark. “This is a no-go zone for NGOs; we are not invited,” said one U.N. refugee agency employee working on protection issues. “Only after they are screened do we get access to these people.” This screening process often depends on input from vigilantes who are from the same community as the suspects.
Military violence against civilians in northeast Nigeria doesn’t end with raids and “mop-up” operations. Amnesty’s 2015 report noted that “on numerous occasions, soldiers have gone to the town or village, rounded up hundreds of men and boys and taken into custody those identified as Boko Haram by paid informants.” Amnesty says that most of the arrests it has documented appear to be “entirely arbitrary.” Those rounded up have included boys as young as 9 and at least 30 women and girls. “When the military first came, they thought everyone was Boko Haram,” said one man in Maiduguri, This is a no-go zone for NGOs; we are not invited,” said one U.N. refugee agency employee