Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian authorities to launch an urgent and independent investigation, alleging that at least 150 members of the Fulani community, including children, died in a military-controlled detention facility in Kwara State.
Bur the Kwara State Government distanced itself from reports.
The organization, in a statement on Thursday, said the victims were among the roughly 1,500 displaced pastoralists held at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in Yikpata after fleeing violent attacks in parts of Kwara State.
“Those detained were subjected to overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, with limited access to food, healthcare and freedom of movement, leading to widespread malnutrition and disease.
“Members of the Fulani community face persecution on two fronts, from armed groups and the military.
“Instead of receiving protection, they are being denied their rights to personal liberty, livelihood, movement, education and healthcare,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
Amnesty added that “A 43-year-old man who escaped the camp also alleged that deaths were frequent.
“A total of 154 people have died from hunger and disease since we were brought there. On the day I escaped, six children died,” Amnesty quoted him as saying.
“Detaining people based on their identity constitutes discriminatory profiling and exposes them to violence and other human rights violations,” Sanusi said.
The organization urged Nigerian authorities to conduct a “prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent and effective investigation,” and ensure justice and remedies for victims and their families.
It also called for an immediate end to the “arbitrary detention” and warned that such practices violate Nigeria’s constitution and international human rights obligations.
“It is unlawful for a security operation to target individuals, whole families and whole villages based on their ethnicity. The existence of the camp puts detainees outside the protection of the law in flagrant violation of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international human rights obligations,” he added.
The group said its findings followed field research conducted between April 5 and 11, and that images obtained from the camp showed severely malnourished children with visible ribs and extreme weakness.
It added that during the research, its team interviewed dozens of detainees, survivors and affected families and survivors described harrowing conditions inside the facility, including frequent deaths and mass burials.
Some of the victims interviewed by Amnesty International said they had abandoned their homes and animal herds in January 2026 after military authorities ordered residents who were ‘innocent’ to leave their villages to make way for military clearance operations, prompting hundreds to gather at a designated meeting point. From there, they were transported by the military to the camp in Yikpata, where they have been held in prolonged detention.
A woman held at the camp, the report said, recounted how displaced families were relocated under assurances of safety but encountered severe deprivation.
Amnesty quoted the women as saying that: “At the camp, we did not have enough food, sometimes only beans in the evening, and even that was not guaranteed.
“Starvation claimed the lives of many children and pregnant women. My twin daughters, Hauwa’u and Hajja, died there. I remember that at the peak of the deaths, we contributed 60,000 naira (US$44) to buy white shrouds for burial because of the increasing number of deaths. We buried three corpses in a single grave.”
The Kwara State Government, while reacting to the reports denied involvement in the operation of any such camp.
Bashir Adigun, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, said the state had no control over the facility.
“The state government does not have any camp,” he said, adding that the military was in a better position to respond to the allegations.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Theatre Command, Operation Savannah Shield, Captain Mohammed Jamilu Yahaya, said he would verify the claims.
“I just saw this now, (and) I will need to make verifications. I will get (back) to you,” he said.
On its part, the Director, Defence Media Operations, Defence Headquarters, Michael Onoja, dismissed the report, saying the facility doesn’t belong to the military.
Onoja, a Major-General, said: “The story is not true. The so-called military detention facility is not under the purview of the military.
“The military has no business whatsoever with that location. You may wish to channel your enquiries to the appropriate government agency for clarification.”
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