Amnesty International has urged Nigerian authorities to investigate reports that as many as 150 people, most of them children, died at an army-run camp in Yikpata, Kwara State. Survivors interviewed by Amnesty researchers in April described overcrowding, widespread starvation and disease, and multiple bodies buried in single graves. The alleged victims were among about 1,500 Fulani people relocated after attacks by armed groups. The military rejects the allegations, saying there is no verifiable evidence.
Amnesty Urges Probe After Reports That 150, Mostly Children, Died In Army-Run Camp In Nigeria; Military Denies Claims
FILE PHOTO: A person walks outside the Christ Apostolic Church during a Sunday service held for those killed and kidnapped in an attack by gunmen on November 18, in the town of Eruku, Kwara state, Nigeria, November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Abdullahi Dare Akogun/File Photo
By Ahmed Kingimi
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, April 30 (Reuters) — Amnesty International has called on Nigerian authorities to open an independent investigation after reports that at least 150 people, most of them children, died at an army-run camp in Yikpata, Kwara State. The military has rejected the allegations as baseless.
Amnesty said the alleged victims were among roughly 1,500 members of the Fulani community who were relocated to the camp after facing escalating attacks by armed groups. Researchers from Amnesty who visited the site in April said they spoke with survivors who described severe overcrowding, widespread starvation and illness.
Survivors also told Amnesty that multiple bodies had been buried in single graves at the site, a claim that, if verified, would point to a severe humanitarian crisis.
"Instead of finding safety, they face overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, restrictions on their movements, acute malnutrition and disease," Amnesty said in a statement.
The military dismissed the report. "There is no verifiable evidence to support such an allegation," Major General Michael Onoja, Director of Defence Media Operations, told Reuters. "I doubt its veracity. Nothing like this has happened," he added.
Security analysts say communities across the area have come under growing pressure as Islamist militants from the north push southward, contributing to displacement and heightened vulnerability for civilians in the region.
Amnesty is urging Nigerian authorities and international bodies to conduct an impartial, transparent inquiry to establish the facts and to ensure adequate humanitarian assistance to displaced communities.
(Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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