Nigerian defence chief pledges trials for abusive soldiers

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AFP) - Nigeria's defence chief on Wednesday pledged that soldiers who commit abuses will face the law after accusations of dozens killed in security raids in the violence-hit northeast.

"The military has orders of engagement, and all troopers are expected to adhere to the rules of engagement," Chief of Defence Staff Oluseyi Petirin said during a visit to the city of Maiduguri, the epicentre of the violence.

"And those who are found wanting will be directed to face the law."

He told journalists the military had put five soldiers on trial in Maiduguri "for alleged excesses," though he did not provide details.

Nigeria's northeast has been hit by almost daily bomb blasts and shootings in recent weeks blamed on an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.

Hundreds of troops have been deployed to Maiduguri as a result of the violence, and soldiers have been accused of shooting civilians and burning homes after accusing residents of cooperating with the Islamists.

The violence has prompted some to call for the troops to be withdrawn as well as for dialogue with the Islamists.

"The military is not in Maiduguri for discussion with anybody," Petirin said. "Soldiers wil remain in Maiduguri until peace returns. Those calling for the withdrawal of (the police-military task force) should have a rethink."

Amnesty International has said security forces killed at least 23 people following a bomb blast in Maiduguri on Saturday, while it said 25 people died in a raid following another bomb attack earlier in the month.

The city has been extremely tense, with thousands of residents having fled.

The sect claims to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of some 150 million people roughly split between Christians and Muslims.