‘Accountability elusive’ a year after Nigeria protest killings: Amnesty

Rights radical says perpetrators ‘must beryllium held to account’, a twelvemonth aft 24 radical killed during outgo of surviving protests.

The Nigerian authorities has failed to guarantee accountability aft constabulary utilized deadly unit to disperse mass 2024 demonstrations against soaring surviving costs, Amnesty International has said connected the archetypal day of the protests.

In a connection connected Friday, the quality rights radical said constabulary successful Nigeria “bizarrely proceed to contradict beardown allegations of extrajudicial execution, torture and unlawful arrests of the protesters”.

An Amnesty probe recovered that astatine slightest 24 radical were killed erstwhile constabulary opened occurrence connected the protests, which erupted successful August of past twelvemonth nether the slogan #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.

Demonstrators took to the streets crossed the state successful choler astir soaring substance prices and inflation, spurred by authorities reforms aimed astatine reviving the economy.

“A twelvemonth on, contempt the gravity of these quality rights violations, not a azygous subordinate of the information forces has been prosecuted, arsenic accountability remains elusive for the 24 peaceful protesters killed successful Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Borno, Niger and Kaduna states,” Isa Sanusi, manager of Amnesty International Nigeria, said successful Friday’s statement.

“Those down these atrocities indispensable beryllium held to account.”

A antheral holds a banner during a protestation against economical hardship, successful Lagos, Nigeria, connected August 2, 2024 [Sunday Alamba/AP Photo]

A spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice did not respond to a petition for remark from the AFP quality agency.

Amnesty said that successful each the killings, protesters were changeable by constabulary who fired unrecorded ammunition “at adjacent range, often astatine the caput oregon torso, suggesting that officers were shooting to kill”.

“The Nigerian authorities are yet to instrumentality due and effectual measures to respect, protect, beforehand and fulfil the rights to state of look and peaceful assembly, including by ending the killing, intimidation and harassment of protesters, arbitrary arrests and detention, and wide surveillance, particularly successful the discourse of protests,” Sanusi said.

The rights radical besides condemned what it described arsenic “sham trials” for the hundreds of protesters who were arrested connected a assortment of alleged offences.

Charges see “‘levy[ing] warfare against the authorities successful bid to intimidate oregon overawe the president'” arsenic good arsenic “‘using WhatsApp radical chats,’ ‘inciting to mutiny,’ “chanting ‘Tinubu indispensable go’, calling connected the subject to instrumentality implicit authorities from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” and “intent to destabilize Nigeria”, according to Amnesty.

Tinubu’s reforms – including floating the naira currency and ending a costly substance subsidy – person been supported arsenic agelong overdue by economists, but led to the cost of surviving to spike successful the country.

Though nary 1 has been tried for the deaths, the Nigerian authorities has been forced astatine times to measurement backmost from its prosecutions of protesters.

In November, dozens of youths, galore of them children, appeared successful tribunal frail and hungry, sparking outcry implicit their attraction successful jail. Tinubu later ordered their release.

But immoderate trials are inactive nether mode for the astir 700 radical arrested.