Lagos , Nigeria ( CNN ) -- More than 30 people have been shot dead in Nigeria , the head of Amnesty International said Friday , only a day after the rights group accused Nigerian security forces of committing serious abuses in their efforts to crack down on the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the region . The latest deaths occurred in the town of Maiduguri , in Borno state , which has been the scene of much of the violence as Boko Haram seeks to impose a strict version of Sharia law in the Muslim-dominated northern part of the country . Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty said : `` We have certainly confirmed from our contacts that over 30 people have been killed -- summary executions , we understand ; bodies found in the morgue . '' Witnesses told Amnesty and CNN that security forces from the Joint Task Force , or military , carried out the killings . Opinion : Nigeria is a sinking ship , but we must not desert it . `` These are not isolated examples -- it 's happening all the time , '' Shetty added . `` Ordinary citizens are simply caught in the crossfire . '' Shetty appealed for the government to ensure the rule of law was followed by its own forces in tackling the militant groups . `` There 's no way in which we can improve the security situation in the north , which we all want ... by increasing insecurity , '' he said . `` We can not improve human rights by taking people 's lives and for security forces to be themselves beyond the pale of the law is just simply unacceptable . '' Lt. Col. Sagir Musa , a spokesman for the Joint Task Force , told CNN that the reported killings are under investigation . `` JTF does n't condone or encourage infractions or indiscipline and where that happens we immediately visit sanctions accordingly , '' Musa said . Read more : Why Nigerians are no longer content with 'suffering and smiling ' Meanwhile , the military blamed Boko Haram for killing retired Major Gen. Muhammadu Shuwa and a guest in Maiduguri Friday . Four gunmen entered Gen. Shuwa 's house and opened fire on him and his guests , Nigerian military spokesman Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said in a statement . Nigerian troops located in the area immediately cordoned off the area and are searching for the assailants , he said . In its report Thursday , Amnesty International condemned the increasingly brutal attacks carried out by Boko Haram since 2009 , but said Nigeria 's security forces `` have perpetrated serious human rights violations '' in their response . Opinion : Could it finally be springtime for Nigeria ? `` Hundreds of people accused of links to Boko Haram have been arbitrarily detained without charge or trial ; others have been extrajudicially executed or subjected to enforced disappearance , '' the report said . `` At the same time , the Nigerian government has failed to adequately prevent or investigate the attacks or to bring perpetrators to justice ; and victims have not received prompt and adequate reparation and remedy . `` The cycle of attacks and counterattacks has been marked by unlawful violence on both sides with devastating consequences for the human rights of the people trapped in the middle . '' Read more : Facebook 'stalkers ' face trial for model 's murder . A spokesman for the Nigerian military , Col. Mohammed Yerima , rejected the allegations made in Thursday 's report . `` We sincerely disagree with the report released by Amnesty International , '' he told CNN . `` We believe that their statistical data is unfounded . They did n't interview anybody from Boko Haram , and they did n't interview us ; they seemed to have just spoken to people on the street . '' He also dismissed allegations made in the report that the military participated in extrajudicial killings of suspects or used torture during interrogations . `` We deny that . What would we gain from killing people like that ? We do n't torture , we interrogate . If they are found not to be members of Boko Haram , we release them immediately , take them back to where we picked them up and we apologize , '' he said . Amnesty International said it had shared its findings with the Nigerian authorities before it published the report , as well as requesting further information on certain cases , but that it had received no response . Read more : Suicide bomber kills 7 in Nigerian church . Its researchers met with senior government officials , including the ministers for police affairs , justice and the interior , and the defense headquarters representative , the rights group said . Amnesty International also acknowledged the challenges faced by under-resourced police in the face of militant activity , and said the attacks by Boko Haram targeting civilians `` may constitute crimes against humanity . '' Read more : Nigeria arrests a suspected militant leader . Over the past three years , Boko Haram has waged a violent campaign of bombings of Christian churches that have killed hundreds and wounded many more . There have been fewer attacks by Christian militant groups . Nigeria has almost equal numbers of Christian and Muslims , with the south predominantly Christian . Boko Haram and other Muslim groups claim the north has been starved of resources and marginalized by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan , a Christian . CNN 's Laura Smith-Spark and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report .
More than 30 people have been shot dead in Maiduguri , says Amnesty International . The news comes a day after the rights group accused Nigerian security forces of abuses . The military accuses Boko Haram gunmen of shooting a retired general and his guest . Boko Haram , a militant Islamist group , has killed hundreds in attacks on churches .