12 children among 149 deaths in Nigerian military detention

12 children, are among 149 people who have died this year following their detention in the Giwa barracks detention center in Maiduguri, Nigeria, according to Amnesty International.

“In a new report released” Wednesday, the human rights body called for the closure of the detention center, where soldiers illegally hold suspected members of the Islamist group Boko Haram. Amnesty International believes that around 1,200 people are currently detained at Giwa barracks in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, among them 120 children.

Click here: https://t.co/qO9MF7JMaz to read our newly released briefing on the conflict in northeast Nigeria pic.twitter.com/0S2iTPzQYB

— Amnesty Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) May 11, 2016

The number of detainees in these cells has increased from 25 in 2015 to 250 in early 2016, according to the report.

Amnesty says that most of the arrests are arbitrary as the detainees often have no access to lawyers during their detention, which is a violation of both Nigerian and international law.

On it’s part, the Nigerian army said it had released 275 prisoners including 50 children, suspected of “terrorism or insurgency” on February 12.