Dispatches reveals the other side of Nigeria’s war on Islamist terror: a campaign by Nigeria’s security forces against civilians that’s so violent it could constitute war crimes. The kidnap of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram shocked the world. Using unique footage from soldiers and militia this film exposes the human rights abuses perpetrated against innocent civilians in the campaign against the extremists. The kidnap of almost 300 schoolgirls by Nigeria’s hard line Islamist fighters Boko Haram in April 2014 caused international outrage. It sparked a global campaign demanding their return and pledges of increased military support to Nigeria from the UK, the US and other nations. But, three months later, as the girls languish in guerrilla camps with no sign of rescue, Channel 4’s Dispatches reveals the other side of Nigeria’s war on Islamist terror: a campaign by Nigeria’s security forces against civilians that’s so violent it could constitute war crimes. For a year, Dispatches has been gathering dozens of videos, many of which show the arbitrary arrest, torture and summary execution of civilians and unarmed Boko Haram suspects by Nigerian soldiers and their civilian militia counterparts. In one of the most shocking clips, a group of men described by witnesses as Nigerian soldiers and militiamen cut the throats of several young men in what appears to be revenge for the beheading of soldiers by Boko Haram.
