LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Two generals and top officials of Nigeria’s feared State Security Service had to testify at the National Human Rights Commission’s hearing on the killings of unarmed civilians — a “quantum leap” in accountability in Nigeria, according to the country’s top rights advocate.

The December hearings were the first time such high-ranking officers, including the chief of army staff, have been held to account since Nigeria’s military dictatorship, said Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission.