Rights group Amnesty International says nearly 1,000 people have died in Nigerian detention facilities.

In a statement published on Tuesday, Amnesty said it had “credible information” that more than 950 suspected members of the Boko Haram militant group died in custody of the Nigerian military's Joint Task Force (JTF) in the first six months of 2013.

“A large proportion of these people are believed to have died in Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri, Borno state and Sector Alpha, commonly referred to as ‘Guantanamo’ and Presidential Lodge (known as ‘Guardroom’) in Damaturu, Yobe state,” the statement read.

“According to former detainees interviewed by Amnesty International, people died on an almost daily basis in Giwa barracks as well as Sector Alpha detention centers, from suffocation or other injuries due to overcrowding and starvation,” the statement added.

The rights group called on the country’s authorities to investigate the deaths.

“This is a staggeringly high figure that requires urgent action by the Nigerian government,” said Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s deputy Africa director.


“The details of what happens behind locked doors in these shadowy detention facilities must be exposed, and those responsible for any human rights violations brought to book,” Freeman stated.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian army said in a statement that it had repelled attacks by Boko Haram members, killing 40 of them in the northeast of the country.

The fighters "of unknown strength attempted coordinated and simultaneous attacks" on Sunday in the towns of Bama, Gwoza and Pulka in Borno state.

Troops "successfully repelled all the attacks killing 40 terrorists in the three locations."

On May 15, the army launched an offensive against the militant group a day after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the three northeastern states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.

Boko Haram -- whose name means “Western education is forbidden” -- says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.

Over the past four years, violence in the north of Africa’s most populous country has claimed the lives of 3,600 people, including killings by the security forces.