Human rights violations in the fight against Boko Haram

Abstract

Recent media and NGO reports suggest that human rights violations have been a salient characteristic of the government Joint Task Force (JTF) in the war on Boko Haram. However, there has been relatively scant scholarly engagement with the forms of abuses committed by the JTF against civilians and why such human rights violations occur. This chapter analyses the various human rights violations perpetrated by the JTF in the war against Boko Haram. Employing a historical approach, the chapter argues that the JTF’s human rights violations are shaped by the philosophy of colonial policing in Nigeria. It shows that the failure of successive post-colonial governments to ideologically transform policing has contributed to the human rights abuses that have characterized the war on Boko Haram. A philosophical transformation in Nigeria’s security forces especially the police and military is, therefore, necessary in ending human rights abuses in the fight against Boko Haram.