The Killing Fields of the Nigerian Army: Any Lessons Learned?

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Nigerian army has long had a poor human rights record. From the times of the Biafra War (1967–1970) to massacres of Boko Haram members in 2009 and clashes with the Shiite minority in 2015, soldiers and officers have perpetrated widespread and serious violations. Corruption, impunity, a weak chain of command and lack of accountability, qualifications, training, recruitment, supplies, and control by civilian authorities explain their wrongdoings, together with the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s and the war on terror since 2009. Such problems are still prevalent as Nigeria heads for general elections in 2019. This article thus shows that lessons were not learned despite the democratization process since the end of military rule in 1999.