AMNESTY International has decried lack of political will from the Nigerian government to prosecute security operatives suspected to have tortured and killed citizens.
Director of Amnesty International Nigeria Osai Ojigho said this during her address at the commemoration of one year after the 2020 #EndSARS protest on Wednesday in Abuja.
“President Muhammadu Buhari must fulfil his promise of reforming the police to end the reign of impunity Nigerians have been protesting for many years.
“Failure to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the torture and killings of ENDSARS protesters on 20 October 2020 is yet another indication that Nigerian authorities lack the political will to ensure accountability for these atrocities, and end police brutality,” Ojigho said.
Amnesty International said its investigation found that Nigerian Army and Police killed at least 12 people in October 2020 during the #EndSARS protest.
The organisation also said a year after October 20, 2020 incident, not a single member of the security operatives had been prosecuted.
She added that the judicial panels set up to investigate cases of Police brutality across the country had also made ‘little progress.’
Amnesty International further said that the #EndSARS protest in October 2020 was initially peaceful until the instigation of violence by pro-government supporters.
“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,” Ojigho said.
During his remark, Board Chairman of Amnesty International Nigeria Auwal Musa Rafsanjani said freedom of expression was being muzzled despite the constitutional provision that allowed Nigerians to freely speak about the state of affairs in the country.
“Amnesty International will continue to push for the promotion of freedom of expression of Nigerians as enshrined in our constitution,” Rafsanjani said.
He said some of the actions of security operatives undermined the basic human rights of Nigerians and global convention.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94