UNHCR estimates that from 2009 to 2023, 35,000 people perished in the North-East insurgency

35,000 people have reportedly died between the start of the insurgency in the North-East in 2009 and August 2023, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

This information was provided during a training session for military troops on Wednesday in Yola on human rights, humanitarian principles, and the protection of civilians. Mrs. Elsie Mills-Tetty, Head of UNHCR’s Adamawa Office, made the announcement.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in coordination with UNHCR, reportedly organised the training, according to NAN.

This, according to Mills-Tetty, was stated in the “Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect” report from August 2023, which was represented by Umar Abdullahi, Assistant Protect Officer.

She asserts that it is impossible to overstate how important these acts are to the future economic and social growth of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, and Nigeria as a whole.

The NHRC reported in 2022 that it looked into human rights complaints and helped victims get remedies, she continued.

The commission received 2.314 complaints overall, according to Mills-Tetty. A little more than three percent of the complaints from the 36 federating states came from Adamawa, which received 65,456 in total.

The 2022 NHRC report also noted that incidents of insurgency, banditry, kidnappings, farmers/herders confrontations, and attacks by gunmen persisted, along with an increase in the number of internally displaced people who experience severe human rights violations.

She further encouraged the attendees to make use of the training to increase their understanding of human rights while performing their tasks.

Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, stated in his speech that the training was intended to integrate human rights into the Nigerian forces’ counterinsurgency operations in the North-East.

Ojukwu, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Mr. Benedict Agu, praised the performance of the Nigerian military and other law enforcement organisations in curbing insurgency.

“To further sustain the successes gained so far, the commission is here to teach important Military commanders and personnel who are directly involved in the counter-insurgency operations in the North-East,” he continued. “The commission is here in conjunction with UNHCR.

“Given how difficult the struggle against insurgency is because of the conflict’s asymmetry, the justification for this training cannot be overstated.

He claimed that there was “barely a clearly drawn battle line” separating the militants from the civilian population and that “the insurgents live within us.”

In order to fulfil their professional and personal obligations, Ojukwu urged the participants to make sure they put the knowledge they had learned to use.