Disband vigilante groups, rights groups say

Two human rights groups have urged the Nigerian government to outlaw vigilantes and other militia groups that have perpetrated rights abuses and were responsible for hundreds of illegal killings in the West African country. In a report released in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Nigeria's Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN) said the government should disband the "government-backed vigilante groups without delay". The 45-page report focuses mainly on the Bakassi Boys, a group operating in the southeastern states since 1998. HRW and CLEEN documented hundreds of cases involving the Bakassi Boys and said they were responsible for arbitrarily detaining, torturing, and killing suspected or real criminals, church leaders, and politicians. They were also known for public executions, including setting ablaze alleged criminals and mutilating them using machetes and guns, the rights groups said. The Bakassi Boys thus represent a parallel security, "effectively taking over the functions of law enforcement agencies in these states, yet they are completely unaccountable", the report said. But banning the groups would not be an easy task because they were often backed by state governments that supported them financially and with equipment, the rights organisations said. In Anambra State, the group officially became the Anambra State Vigilante Services after parliament recognised it in August 2000. The two organisations urged the federal government to disarm and disband the Bakassi Boys, repeal the Anambra State law, and ensure that no other state introduces such legislation. They also called on government to investigate and prosecute rights abuses committed by the Bakassi Boys and other groups, investigate the broader role of state governments that have sponsored such groups, and reform the national police force Other militia groups, that often claim to defend ethnic interests include the Oodua People's Congress, the Egbesu Boys of Africa, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and some Islamic groups in mainly Muslim states. [Cllick here for the full report is available]