Nigeria: Commission claims 11 killed in virus lockdown

By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA (AA) - The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) claimed late Wednesday that security operatives had killed 11 civilians during the enforcement of a total lockdown in major cities in Nigeria to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In a report, the commission said that in the last three weeks, security forces tortured 104 people who did not comply with the lockdown and injured 49 others. In April, the commission announced that the country's security forces killed 18 civilians for the same reason.

The death toll in the country from the outbreak is 158, while the number of cases is 4,787.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to 188 countries and regions across the world. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit areas.

The pandemic has killed more than 296,000 people, with the total number of infections over 4.33 million, while over 1.54 million have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut