Nigeria: At least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra activists killed in chilling crackdown
The Nigerian security forces, led by the military, embarked on a chilling campaign of extrajudicial executions and violence resulting in the deaths of at least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra protesters in the south east of the country, according to an investigation by Amnesty International published today.
Analysis of 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 eye witness testimonies relating to demonstrations and other gatherings between August 2015 and August 2016 consistently shows that the military fired live ammunition with little or no warning to disperse crowds. 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.
“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.”
Since August 2015, there has been a series of protests, marches and gatherings by members and supporters of IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) who have been seeking the creation of a Biafran state. Tensions increased further following the arrest of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu on 14 October 2015. He remains in detention.
Extrajudicial executions
By far the largest number of pro-Biafra activists were killed on Biafra Remembrance Day on 30 May 2016 when an estimated 1,000 IPOB members and supporters gathered for a rally in Onitsha, Anambra State. The night before the rally, the security forces raided homes and a church where IPOB members 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.
Ngozi (not her real name), a 28-year-old mother of one, told Amnesty International that her husband left in the morning to go to work but called her shortly afterwards to say that the military had shot him in his abdomen. He said he was in a military vehicle with six others, four of whom were already dead. She told Amnesty International: “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.”
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 "Ngozi", a 28-year-old mother of one whose husband was killed
The next day Ngozi searched for her husband and finally found his body in a nearby mortuary. The mortuary attendants told her that the military had brought him and six others. She saw three gunshot wounds: one in his abdomen and two in his chest, which confirmed her fear that the military had executed him.
Amnesty International has also reviewed videos of a peaceful gathering of IPOB members and supporters at Aba National High School on 9 February 2016. The Nigerian military surrounded the group and then fired live ammunition at them without any prior warning.
According to eyewitnesses and local human rights activists, many of the protesters at Aba were rounded up and taken away by the military. On 13 February 13 corpses, including those of men known to have been taken by the military, were discovered in a pit near the Aba highway.
“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 Makmid Kamara.
Deadly repression
Eyewitness testimony and video footage of the rallies, marches and meetings demonstrate that the Nigerian military deliberately used deadly force.
In many of the incidents detailed in the report, including the Aba High School protest, the military applied tactics designed to kill and neutralize an enemy, rather than to ensure public order at a peaceful event.
All IPOB gatherings documented by Amnesty International were largely peaceful. In those cases where there were pockets of violence, it was mostly in reaction to shooting by the security forces. Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that some protesters threw stones, burned tyres and in one incident shot at the police. Regardless, these acts of violence and disorder did not justify the level of force used against the whole assembly.
Amnesty International’s research also shows a disturbing pattern of hundreds of arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment by soldiers during and after IPOB events, including arrests of wounded victims in hospital, and torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.
Vincent Ogbodo (not his real name), a 26-year-old trader, said he was shot on Remembrance Day in Nkpor and hid in a gutter. When soldiers found him they poured acid on him. He told Amnesty International:
“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.”
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 28-year-old man who had acid sprayed on him by a soldier
A man who was detained in Onitsha Barracks after the Remembrance Day shooting on 30 May 2016 told Amnesty International: “Those in the guard room [detention] were flogged every morning. The soldiers tagged it ‘Morning Tea’.”
No action by authorities to ensure accountability
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.
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.
“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 Makmid Kamara.
In the very rare cases where an investigation is carried out, there is no follow up. As a result of the apparent lack of political will to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of such crimes, the military continues to commit human rights violations and grave crimes with impunity.
In addition to investigations, 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.
Background
The findings of this report involved an analysis of 87 videos and 122 photographs showing IPOB gatherings and members of security forces in the process of committing violations and victims of these violations. 193 interviews were conducted.
On 30 September 2016, Amnesty International shared the key findings of this report with the Federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the state Security Services. Responses were received from the Attorney General and Inspector General of Police but neither answered the questions raised in the report.
IPOB emerged in 2012 and campaigns for an Independent Biafran state. Almost fifty years ago, an attempt to establish Biafra state led to a civil war from 1967 to 1970.
How can it stop in a country like Nigeria where majority think unity is by force?
Secession is not the way but The Nigerian govt commited a lot of bad things dat i beleive they shud answer for. Who so ever dat is involved must not go unpurnished.
For as long as the so called peaceful demonstrators persist in picking up our security agents and tossing them over the Niger bridge to their deaths, there will continue to be available a hail load of bullets to rip them wide open
kropotkin2: For so long as the so called peaceful demonstrators persist in picking up our security agents and tossing them over the Niger bridge to their deaths, there will continue to be available a hail of bullets to rip them open
Secession is not the way but The Nigerian govt commited a lot of bad things dat i beleive they shud answer for. Who so ever dat is involved must not go unpurnished.
The way is left to the indigenous people of the land, the original owners of the land before Lord Lugard came to create Nigeria. It should be the people who decide their own fate. The Government is never greater than the people.
NNAMDI KANU AND IPOB SPREADING LIES AND DEEPENING ILLITERACY IN IGBOLAND Taking a cue from the merchandizing of Biafra by self confessed idol worshipper Kanu,his illiterate followers publish very ridiculous lies knowing their idiotic supporters will buy. A paper championing the ipob deceit audaciously wrote that Trump has promised to create Biafra in his acceptance speech.
Views like this are noted in countries held spellbound by Sadistic Islamists. Nigeria is part of the countries ruled by Sadistic Islamists.
Worse, despite the glaring evidences of the illegal killings of unarmed Biafra agitators, Islamic Army of Nigeria's spokesperson denied the allegations in a press release.
These people doing this denial, who knows the god they worship?
Uteghe: NNAMDI KANU AND IPOB SPREADING LIES AND DEEPENING ILLITERACY IN IGBOLAND Taking a cue from the merchandizing of Biafra by self confessed idol worshipper Kanu,his illiterate followers publish very ridiculous lies knowing their idiotic supporters will buy. A paper championing the ipob deceit audaciously wrote that Trump has promised to create Biafra in his acceptance speech.
kropotkin2: For so long as the so called peaceful demonstrators persist in picking up our security agents and tossing them over the Niger bridge to their deaths, there will continue to be available a hail of bullets to rip them open
Uteghe: NNAMDI KANU AND IPOB SPREADING LIES AND DEEPENING ILLITERACY IN IGBOLAND Taking a cue from the merchandizing of Biafra by self confessed idol worshipper Kanu,his illiterate followers publish very ridiculous lies knowing their idiotic supporters will buy. A paper championing the ipob deceit audaciously wrote that Trump has promised to create Biafra in his acceptance speech.
Two things made the grey matter in the skull off many unreasonable Nigerians become emptied: 1; Islamic Extremism. 2, Cheap Cash from crude oil in the Nigerdelta.
"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, Amnesty's interim director for Nigeria. Other victims detailed in the report include a 26-year-old man who was shot in Nkpor, but hid in a gutter, still alive. He said when soldiers found him, they poured acid over him, and told him he would die slowly. A man cradles a severely burned arm in an Amnesty-provided photoImage copyrightAMNESTY Image caption
150 IS THE MINIMUM ACCORDING TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. MINIMUM!
Of course, it's just the same way millions of LITERATE Nigerians (like you) swallowed the crap that promised that a 73-year old uneducated man will turn $1 to N1, give you 2 million jobs per year, defeat boko haram in 2 months and magically make your economy better than it had ever been.
So no need for a kettle to call the pot black.
Surprisingly, those "illiterate" Biafrans weren't as gullible as the rest of nigerians during the 2015 elections.
And so you know, there are thousands of pro-Biafrans who detest the lies being peddled by those sensational tabloids. And there are millions who do not even know those tabloids exist. Thus your dumb generalization down there (in an effort to distract people from the video of govt, sponsored mass killings of innocent people) is ridiculous to say the least.
Buhari was on Al Jazeera and was confronted with the video of the Army shooting unarmed people, he didnt want to see the video footage.
Had Buhari been a civilised leader, leading a civilised country, he would have been jumping out of his chair to see the video. He would have demanded an immidiate investigation to know why the Army had to enter a secondary School and open fire on people praying. Buhari didnt even bother to ask if any student was killed or injured. All Buhari could say was that Biafra would not be tolerated. It is shocking that a democratically elected leader could be this callous. I salute Amnesty International for standing by the truth abd exposing the murderous regime of Buhari for the fraud it is
150 IS THE MINIMUM ACCORDING TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. MINIMUM!
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HAVE NO REASON TO LIE.
ICC BECKONS FOR BUHARI, BURATAI, ARASE AND CO
I will take ICC serious when they arrest George Bush Jnr for invading Iraq and Libya. Even Putin ICC never arrest na PMB then one arrest ICC can only make noise for African leaders
bukifemi1: “I wish to commend and congratulate millions of IPOBians the world over, whose tenacity and exemplary steadfastness to the course is and will always remain a great source of joy and inspiration for me”.
Supporters of Biafran independence have been shot dead by the Nigerian security forces during raids while they slept, at prayer meetings and remembrance celebrations, and while trying to flee from peaceful marches. Since August 2015, the security forces have killed at least 150 members and supporters of the pro-Biafran organization IPOB (Indigenous
Uteghe: NNAMDI KANU AND IPOB SPREADING LIES AND DEEPENING ILLITERACY IN IGBOLAND Taking a cue from the merchandizing of Biafra by self confessed idol worshipper Kanu,his illiterate followers publish very ridiculous lies knowing their idiotic supporters will buy. A paper championing the ipob deceit audaciously wrote that Trump has promised to create Biafra in his acceptance speech.
If ipob are ilitrate nigeria govament are what ipob cam out wit facts videos, pictures bt ur govaments are clamin ipob kiled their uniform men bt no vides no pictures so who is an iliterat here bt remenba buhari av no certificate
you killed two of them..all nigerians know that...
and if you try to set the western world against us,all of us will join the army!.. ..
that you can be sure..
we dont care if you have your people under control or not...
how many officers did the shias kill,?..none... the shias have the right to lament,not you...
atleast you got the message...
biafra by force will not work..
you killed military men..that is unheard of in other nations...
Release the names of the phantom military men killed by Biafrans, also release the security video footage showing them being killed by Biafrans.
This is not 1960s when the demonic Awolowo and his Lagos-Ibadan gang had monopoly on mass and print media and used that to fawn propaganda and falsehoods to justify murder of innocent Biafrans. That era is gone, and you lots must come to terms with that.
Biafrans with lesser resources at their disposal have video evidence of your demonic sins against them, I'd imagine putting out an equivalent video of Biafrans killing Nigerian security men to be authenticated by Amnesty international shouldn't be that hard for you lots, considering the enormous amount of resources at your disposal.
