One year after the #EndSARS protests and security operative’s “brutal crackdown” on peaceful protesters, victims of police brutality are yet to get justice and Amnesty International (AI) has said.
The global movement of more than 10 million people in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end abuses of human rights has said, instead, reports of human rights violations by the police have continued.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said the judicial panels of inquiry set up to investigate abuses of security operatives have made little progress.
“Under the pretext of restoring order, horrific injuries were inflicted on hundreds of people and at least 56 people were killed, among them dozens of young people lost their lives as Nigerian security forces used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse peaceful protesters across the country,” Ojigho said.
“It is unacceptable that despite overwhelming evidence, the government continues to deny the use of live ammunition on protesters at Lekki toll gate exactly a year ago.
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“Amnesty International had documented incidents at Lekki Toll Gate Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, showing the violent response of the Nigerian security forces to peaceful protests. The clear aim of the crackdown was to instill fear, discourage peaceful protests and punish those demanding an end to widespread human rights violations by the police.
“After reviewing videos and photos of the protest sites, Amnesty International found that in nearly 21 incidents where violence occurred between peaceful protesters and pro-government supporters, security forces not only failed to take preventive measures to avoid peaceful assemblies from being disrupted, but they also failed to protect protesters from violent attacks.
“In many instances, the police and other security agents watched as apparently government-backed armed thugs attacked peaceful protesters. In some cases, these thugs were brought to the protest sites in government vehicles. On at least two occasions, these attacks resulted in the death of protesters.
“Almost every person arrested during the protests described being beaten with the butt of a gun, whips and fists during their arrests. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 12 journalists were attacked during the #EndSARS protests by security forces and unidentified perpetrators.
“Many of those detained interviewed by Amnesty International said that they were tortured while in detention. In many cases, police abuse continued in detention, in police stations and other holding facilities, and on the way to detention, in police vehicles. Several such cases amount to torture and other ill-treatment”.
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The group said the arrested protesters were denied access to lawyers and medical care by the police.
“Several lawyers and human rights defenders said they spent days moving from one police station to another trying to find out where those who had been arrested were being,” AI said.
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