Amnesty accuses Nigerian army of killing 150 protesters

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian army of killing at least 150 pro-secessionist Igbo protesters in the country's southeast during its "violent and unprovoked" crackdowns.

In a new report released Thursday, the watchdog said after examining 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 eyewitness accounts related to the protests on May 30 organized by the country’s secessionist group -- Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – it determined that the army fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd without issuing any prior warnings.

“It also finds evidence of mass extrajudicial executions by security forces, including at least 60 people shot dead in the space of two days in connection with events to mark Biafra Remembrance Day,” the report said, referring to the protests by the group founded by the pro-Biafra activist, Nnamdi Kanu.

Now standing trial for treason and other charges, Kanu has been detained since October 2015.

The secessionist group seeks to resuscitate its breakaway agenda in the region. Similar agitation for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Igbo had sparked a 30-month civil war in 1967 that left nearly 3 million people dead.

“This deadly repression of pro-Biafra activists is further stoking tensions in the southeast of Nigeria. This reckless and trigger-happy approach to crowd control has caused at least 150 deaths and we fear the actual total might be far higher,” according to the report, which quoted Makmid Kamara, the interim director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“The Nigerian government’s decision to send in the military to respond to pro-Biafra events seems to be in large part to blame for this excessive bloodshed. The authorities must immediately launch an impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to book,” Kamara added.

The illegal IPOB organization has been protesting against Kanu’s incarceration since last year along with its demand for secession from Nigeria. The group has repeatedly written world bodies to ask Nigeria to hold a referendum for Igbo to determine if they wanted to remain in the country forged in 1914 by British colonialists.

Amnesty International claimed it found a disturbing pattern of the military using tactics “designed to kill and neutralize an enemy, rather than to ensure public order at a peaceful event.”

It also alleged arbitrary arrests, torture and detention of injured victims.

“Despite this overwhelming evidence that the Nigerian security forces committed gross human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and torture, no investigations have been carried out by the authorities,” the report said.

“A similar pattern of lack of accountability for gross violations by the military has been documented in other parts of Nigeria including the north east in the context of operations against Boko Haram,” it added.

Meanwhile, in a statement released ahead of the watchdog’s report, the Nigerian army criticized Amnesty International for attempting to tarnish its image “for whatever inexplicable parochial reasons”.

“We wish to debunk the insinuation that our troops perpetrated the killing of defenseless agitators,” army spokesman Col. Sani Usman said.

He said soldiers responded to the “violent activities” of the secessionist within the army's rule of engagement.

“For the umpteenth times, the Nigerian Army has informed the public about the heinous intent of this nongovernmental organization which is never relenting in dabbling into our national security in manners that obliterate objectivity, fairness and simple logic,” Usman added.

He said claims that the protesters were unarmed or were peaceful were untrue, adding the secessionist body was notorious for targeting non-Igbos and security agents. “For instance, in the protests of 30 – 31 May 2016, more than five personnel of the Nigeria police were killed, while several soldiers were wounded, Nigeria Police vehicles were burnt down…,” he added.