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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Pillay, Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The “extra-judiciary” deaths of at least two Islamist leaders in captivity during July 2009 fighting in northern Nigeria prompted top leaders from the country to visit Geneva 15-16 August to apologize to the United Nations and plea with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, reports African newspaper the Daily Trust.  The federal delegation is seeking to avoid UN sanctions over the killings of Boko Haram leaders by government forces in July. The group reportedly told Pillay that “severe efforts will be made to bring those responsible for those horrendous crime to book”, Ewubrae told journalists in Nigeria.

Early reports of the violence that killed 700 people, according to official government figures, showed Boko Haram, an extreme Islamist group, responsible for attacks on government operations and police that resulted in scores of deaths. These were followed by later reports of clashes between government forces and Boko Haram leaders. But video footage showing two men killed in captivity then surfaced. “Though the police claimed to have killed the Boko Haram leaders in combat, video evidence later showed that the sect leader Mohammed Yusuf and alleged financier Buji Foi were shot dead in captivity,” writes the Daily Trust.

The group was comprised of the head of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission Ronald Ewubare, the country’s attorney-general Michael Aondoakaa and legal counsel for Nigerian President Umaru Yar’adua.