Amnesty International has in a new report disclosed how
extrajudicial execution and torture by Nigeria security forces, especially the
Nigerian Army, led to the death of at least 150 pro-Biafra protesters across
Nigeria’s south-east, between August 2015 and August 2016.
The report titled: “Bullets Were Raining Everywhere”:
Deadly Repression of Pro-Biafra Activists, released on Thursday relied on the
analysis of 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 eye witness testimonies that
revealed soldiers of the Nigeria military firing live ammunition to disperse
protesters, most of them members of the separatist group, Indigenous People of
the Biafra (IPOB), without warning.
According to Amnesty International, at least 60 defenceless
IPOB protesters were shot dead within two days leading to the Biafra
Remembrance Day of May 30.
The AI report corroborated PREMIUM TIMES’ investigations
published in June showing the vicious clampdown and wanton executions of
members of IPOB by soldiers of the Nigeria Army, the police and operatives of
the Nigeria’s secret police, the State Security Services (SSS).
IPOB, which was formed by Nnamdi Kanu, seeks the restoration
of the breakaway sovereign state of Republic of Biafra from Nigeria. Biafra was
a secessionist state in the south-east region of Nigeria that existed from May
30, 1967 to January 1970. The secession of Biafra was the main cause of the
Nigeria Civil War. Over 1 million people died in the war.
Mr. Kanu was arrested on October 14, and is being tried for
treason. There has been an increase in the agitation of pro-Biafra activists
since his arrest.
President Muhammadu Buhari is strongly opposed to the
creation of Biafra. In May 2016 during a visit to the palace of the Emir of
Katsina, Mr. Buhari suggested that it is better for Nigerians to commit mass
suicide than for the actualization of the breakaway state of Biafra.
“We will not let that happen. For Nigeria to divide now, it
is better for all of us to jump into the sea and get drowned,” he said.
Extrajudicial Killings
The Amnesty International report revealed that the largest
number of IPOB members were killed during the Biafra Remembrance Day of May 30,
2016. It stated that as over 1,000 members of the group gathered for a rally in
Onitsha, Anambra State, security forces swooped on their homes and a church
where they were sleeping.
“On Remembrance Day itself, the security forces shot people
in several locations. Amnesty International has not been able to verify the
exact number of extrajudicial executions, but estimates that at least 60 people
were killed and 70 injured in these two days. The real number is likely to be
higher,” the organisation revealed in a statement accompanying the report.
Recounting some of the chilling incidents that happened on
the day, AI spoke to a woman named simply as Ngozi (not her real name), the
28-year-old wife of one of the slain members of IPOB.
Ngozi told AI that her husband called her shortly after he
left for work in the morning that soldiers have shot him in his abdomen. He
said he was in a military vehicle with six others, four of whom were already
dead.
“He started whispering and said they just stopped [the
vehicle]. He was scared they would kill the remaining three of them that were
alive… He paused and told me they were coming closer. I heard gunshots and I
did not hear a word from him after that.”
The next day after searching for her husband, Ngozi found
his body in a nearby mortuary. The attendants at the mortuary told her that the
military had brought him and six others. She said he had three gunshot wounds
one in his abdomen and two in his chest, which confirmed that the military had
executed him.
Similarly, Chukwuemeka (not his real name), a 25-year-old
trader, told AI that he was shot and taken together with corpses to the barracks.
“They dumped us on the ground beside a pit. There were two
soldiers beside the pit. The pit was very big and so many dead people were
inside the pit. I cannot estimate the number of people in the grave. … We were
dumped on the ground.”
He said that he escaped and hid in the bushes.
The organization said it reviewed videos of a peaceful
gathering of IPOB members at Aba National High School on February 9. The
Nigerian military surrounded the group and then opened fire on everyone in
sight without any warning.
Many of the protesters were then rounded up and taken away.
Four days later, 13 corpses including some of the men taken away were found
near the Aba Highway.
According to AI, the military took the bodies of people
killed and injured in Onitsha and Asaba to the military barracks in Onitsha.
Video footage shows soldiers loading dead and wounded people into their Hilux
van.
“Initially, when they were still dumping corpses, I could
see 10 to 12 lifeless bodies. That was in the morning. In the evening, there
were more but I could not estimate,” A man who was detained in the barracks and
who saw the corpses dumped in front of the military mortuary said.
Torture
The report also revealed the disturbing use of widespread
torture and ill-treatment of those arrested by the military.
Vincent Ogbodo (not his real name), a 26-year-old trader,
said he was shot on May 30, 2016 in Nkpor and hid in a gutter. He said when
soldiers found him they poured acid on him.
“I covered my face. I would have been blind by now. He
poured acid on my hands. My hands and body started burning. The flesh was
burning… They dragged me out of the gutter. They said I’ll die slowly.”
A man detained at the Onitsha Barracks revealed that “those
in the guard room were flogged every morning. The soldiers tagged it ‘Morning
Tea’.”
“This deadly repression of pro-Biafra activists is further
stoking tensions in the south east 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,” said Makmid Kamara, 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.”
“It is chilling to see how these soldiers gunned down
peaceful IPOB members. The video evidence shows that this was a military
operation with intent to kill and injure,” said Mr. Kamara.
AI stated that most IPOB protests have been largely
peaceful. It however, added that on occasions, protesters hurled stones, burned
tyres and in one case shot a police officer.
“Regardless, these acts of violence and disorder did not
justify the level of force used against the whole assembly,” AI stated.
Impunity
AI stated that despite overwhelming evidence detailing the
extrajudicial killings and torture of protesters, no action has been taken by
Nigerian authorities to investigate them or punish perpetrators.
It stated that this lack of accountability for human rights
violations by the military is similar to documented cases in other parts of the
country especially in the country’s north-east region where the military fights
a war against Boko Haram.
“Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the
government of Nigeria to initiate independent investigations into evidence of
crimes under international law, and President Buhari has repeatedly promised
that Amnesty International’s reports would be looked into. However, no concrete
steps have been taken,” said Mr. Kamara.
AI stated that the “Nigerian government must ensure adequate
reparations for the victims, including the families. They should end all use of
military in policing demonstrations and ensure the police are adequately
instructed, trained and equipped to deal with crowd-control situations in line
with international law and standards. In particular, firearms must never be
used as a tool for crowd control.”
Army’s denial
Meanwhile, in a move aimed at countering the planned release
of AI’s report on Thursday, the Nigeria army on Wednesday evening released a
statement denying that soldiers killed and tortured defenceless pro-Biafra
agitators.
It stated that the report was an attempt to tarnish the
reputation of Nigerian security forces and that of the army especially.
The statement by the acting director of army public
relations, Sani Usman, a colonel, stated that IPOB members relished in the use
of violence that threatens the security of the country.
It claimed that IPOB members attacked and killed people from
other ethnic groups in the south-east and injured several soldiers and
policemen. The statement also claimed that the protesters vandalised military
and police vehicles.
He stated that the military acted within its mandate and in
fact, approached the protesters with restrain despite their use of
“unjustifiable violence”.
“The evidence of MASSOB/IPOB violent secessionist agitations
is widely known across the national and international domains. Their
modus operandi has continued to relish violence that threatens national
security. Indeed between August 2015 and August 2016, the groups’ violent
protests have manifested unimaginable atrocities to unhinge the reign of peace,
security and stability in several parts of the South East Nigeria,” the
statement read.
“A number of persons from the settler communities that
hailed from other parts of the Country were selected for attack, killed and
burnt. Such reign of hate, terror and ethno-religious controversies that
portend grave consequences for national security have been averted severally
through the responsiveness of the Nigerian Army and members of the security
agencies.
“These security agencies are always targeted for attack by
the MASSOB/IPOB instruments of barbarism and cruelty. For instance, in
the protests of 30 – 31 May 2016, more than 5 personnel of the Nigeria Police
were killed, while several soldiers were wounded, Nigeria Police vehicles were
burnt down same as several others of the Nigerian Army that were vandalized.
“The strategic Niger Bridge at Onitsha came under threat
thus leading to disruption of socio-economic activities. In the aftermath
of the encounter that ensued between security agencies and MASSOB/IPOB
militants many of own troops sustained varying degrees of injury. In
addition, the MASSOB/IPOB recurrent use of firearms, crude weapons as well as
other cocktails such as acid and dynamites to cause mayhem remain a huge
security threat across the region.
“Therefore, it is rather unfortunate for the Amnesty
International to allow itself to be lured into this cheap and unpopular venture
that aims to discredit the undeniable professionalism as well as responsiveness
of the Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.”
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