Reports have been emerging from Ashing, a locality in Njinikom Subdivision of the Boyo of increasing brutality and human right abuses perpetrated by the security forces on the population. Many of the cases go unreported.
On May 31, a form four student of St Bedes coming back from an end of year primary school party was forced to descend from a bike and taken to a makeshift control post and accused of being stubborn. He was severely beaten on the buttocks and left to himself.
Unable to walk he crawled for some distance to reach a nearby road where some bike riders helped him. He was taken to the hospital and placed under intensive care. He is responding to treatment.
One of the victim, Desmond (not his real names due to his personal safety ) told City FM that cases of rape and extortion are common at the control post. They stop motorbikes transporting girls and ask them to give their phone contacts or drop them there. When the bike rider’s refuse they are severely beaten before being sent away.
Desmond says they have nobody to complain to. “Even my quarter head was molested by the same control” he said in Pidgin English. “I am coming to the press because we don’t have anywhere to take our complaints too” he added
Due to the security situation in Boyo, City FM has been unable to reach out to the military authorities there with these complaints
It’s not clear whether these latest act of brutality by the soldiers is a response to the recent killings of some senior official of Belo Sub Division on May 20, 2024. According to Desmond, when ever separatist attack or appear any where, the population turn to suffer. They are accused of enabling the fighters are are punished severely even when the cases are reported to them. Desmond believes is a general hatred or dislike of the people they are supposed to protect or a frustration on their part and in some cases drug consumption.
