Nigeria officers ‘cleared’ of war crimes

Nigeria’s army has exonerated retired senior officers accused by rights group Amnesty International of committing war crimes during the campaign to defeat militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east.

A special board of inquiry had cleared the group of retired officers, including Maj-Gen John Ewansiha who spearheaded the operation against the militants, an army statement said.

In a 2015 report, Amnesty called for nine commanders to be investigated for “horrific war crimes” committed by the military.

This included “participating, sanctioning or failing to prevent the deaths of more than 8,000 people murdered, starved, suffocated, and tortured to death”, Amnesty said.