Abstract
Armed conflicts are common and involve the developed, developing and underdeveloped nations of the world. All continents are involved in one armed conflict or the other. Some of the wars are stirred by religion, territorial disputes, control of resources, terror, drugs, civil and many more. The total number killed in armed conflicts throughout all of human history is staggering, particularly women and children. Global military expenditure and recruitment into the armed groups by state and non-state actors have also increased. Even the very nature of these wars today has been transformed from traditional combat between nation-states to inter- communal conflicts within states involving a wide variety of state and non-state actors thereby blurring the lines of conflict and increasing the exposure of more civilians. In all of this, International Humanitarian Law sought to impose limits on the destruction and suffering caused by armed conflicts and establishes that the right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited. The paper appraised the core principles of International Humanitarian Law in place to limit the effects of armed conflicts with particular emphasis to the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. The paper adopted the doctrinal research methodology and is structured into seven parts covering introduction, conceptual and theoretical framework, legal and institutional framework, appraisal of the core principles of International Humanitarian Law, failure of accountability in the fight against terrorism and concluding
issues. The paper suggested strengthening of institutions and impartial implementation of existing laws in Nigeria.