Amnesty urges Nigeria to investigate deaths in army-run camp, military says report baseless

Amnesty International called on Nigeria to ​investigate reports that at least 150 people, ‌most of them children, had died in an army-run camp in north-central Kwara state - though the military ​said the reports were baseless.

The victims were ​reported to be among about 1,500 members of ⁠the Fulani community who were moved to the ​camp in Yikpata after facing escalating attacks by ​armed groups, Amnesty said on Thursday.

"Instead of finding safety, they face overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, restrictions on their ​movements, acute malnutrition and disease," Amnesty said ​in a statement.

The military dismissed the report of deaths. "There is ‌no ⁠verifiable evidence to support such an allegation," Major General Michael Onoja, Director of Defence Media Operations, told Reuters.
"I doubt its veracity. Nothing like ​this has happened," ​he ⁠added.

Amnesty said its researchers who visited the camp in April spoke to ​survivors who said starvation and disease ​were widespread, ⁠with multiple bodies buried in single graves.

Communities have come under increasing pressure as Islamist militants from ⁠the ​north push into the ​region, security analysts have said.

By Ahmed Kingimi, Reuters