Amnesty International to Release Report Chronicling Use of Torture in Nigeria

Amnesty International (AI) has said it will release a report to demonstrate widespread use of torture in Nigeria on September 18.
The report titled: ‘Welcome to hell fire,’ chronicled torture and other ill-treatment in Nigeria.

A statement by AI’s Global Campaigns and Thematic Issues Press Officer, Mr. Max Tucker, said torture in Nigeria was so prevalent that it was not even classified as a criminal offence in the country.

He said: “Amnesty International will highlight in its upcoming report ‘Welcome to hell fire: Torture and other ill-treatment in Nigeria’.”
According to him, the report details an alarming array of torture techniques used against hundreds of Boko Haram suspects in the country as Nigeria’s military hunts for members of the armed group.

He said the use of torture was not restricted to the Nigerian Army alone as the “police force, plagued by endemic corruption and a lack of accountability, is also found to torture ordinary criminal suspects on an industrial scale – to extract a confession, extort money or to target sex workers.”