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Global rights group, Amnesty International, has said despite promises of reform, police impunity is continuing even as it accused investigation panels set up to probe police brutality of dashing victims’ hope of getting justice.
Amnesty said this in a statement titled, ‘Nigeria: No justice for victims of police brutality one year after #EndSARS protests’.
It said no one had been brought to justice for the torture, violence, and killings of peaceful protesters, while reports of human rights violations by the police continue.
Amnesty insisted that at least 12 persons were killed on October 20, 2020 at the Lekki tollgate and Alausa in Lagos.
“Amnesty International was able to establish that pro-government supporters instigated violence at many of the demonstrations, providing cover for the police to use lethal force against peaceful protesters. The organisation also found that detained protesters were tortured and refused or denied immediate access to lawyers,” it said.
The rights group stated that a year on and despite the gravity of the human rights violations, “not a single member of the security forces has been prosecuted, while judicial panels of inquiry set up to investigate abuses by officers have made little progress.”
Amnesty said the President must fulfil his promise of reforming the police to end the reign of impunity that Nigerians had been protesting against for many years.
It said under the pretext of restoring order, horrific injuries were inflicted on hundreds of people and at least 56 persons were killed, among them dozens of young people, as Nigerian security forces used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse peaceful protesters across the country.
“It is unacceptable that despite overwhelming evidence, the government continues to deny the use of live ammunition on protesters at the Lekki tollgate exactly a year ago,” said Amnesty International’s Country Director, Ms Osai Ojigho.
It said after reviewing videos and photos of the protest sites, it 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,” Ojigho added.
Amnesty also documented numerous cases in which the police denied or delayed access to lawyers and medical care by detainees. This was despite repeated requests from detainees to see or call a lawyer – and repeated requests from lawyers at places of detention to have access to the detainees.
It said investigative panels set up to look into police brutality had so far been marred by prolonged adjournments, intimidation of witnesses by police lawyers and the failure of police officers to appear as witnesses.
It said some panels had failed to sit in some states and had taken indefinite breaks.
“What we observed at these panels is discouraging and clearly shows that there is no real commitment to ensuring justice for victims of police violence across Nigeria. These panels raised hopes of getting justice but in some states, this is quickly vanishing,” Ojigho stated.
