Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north-east on Tuesday said that they are being forced to keep mum on the alleged sexual abuse in their camps.
In a statement released on its Twitter, Knifer, a movement for IDP’s in the north called on President Muhammadu Buhari to send an independent investigative panel to the camps to unravel the truth over the sad development.
Amnesty International had in a report in May alleged that soldiers and members of the civilian joint task force (JTF) exploited women in the camps for food and other essential needs.
But the military has since denied the claims after a visit to the camp with select newsmen.
But on Tuesday the IDPs said they were compelled to keep mute over the incident.
The statement on Knifa’s Twitter handle read, “The military came to Dalori with journalists to ask us displaced women if we were raped. Before the visit, the women were told to say everything is fine, that there are no issues. Is this the way our complaints are handled?
“One of our members was there. She has an 18-month-old son, fathered by a soldier. Too scared and intimidated to speak, she said nothing. No one spoke. Why are we forced to be exposed in such a way?
“It happened to us. It is real. And we formed our group to allow women to get accountability. We have said it before. We are ready to speak but we can not imagine this is the way to do this.”
They asked Buhari to hear their cries and “investigate the soldiers who raped us when we were in Bama.”
“Our children died because there was not enough food, unless we had sex with soldiers,” they said, adding: “We have said it before: we are ready to speak to any investigation team the president sends to us. We only ask it will not be led by soldiers as they are also the ones who abused our women.”
Knifar, a movement of women IDPs in the region, is led by a right activist, Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin.