Police answer Amnesty International: ‘Seven, not 13, killed in Nigeria protests’

Nigerian police have rejected Amnesty International’s claims regarding the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests in the country.

The human rights watchdog said in a statement on Friday that 13 people had been killed in protests that began across the country on Thursday.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said only seven people were killed in the protests.

He also faulted Amnesty International’s claims that security personnel deliberately used tactics designed to kill when managing gatherings and used firearms as a tactical tool to manage protests.

The spokesman stressed that the seven deaths recorded since the start of the protests were not the result of gunfire by security forces.

Adejobi said: “In Borno, four persons lost their lives and 34 others were seriously injured in a terrorist attack allegedly carried out by Boko Haram/ISWAP elements who infiltrated the protest and detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

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“There was also an incident involving a Honda Prelude car without a license plate that hit protesters and resulted in the deaths of two civilians.

“Another incident was reported in Kebbi where a group of people moved to loot a shop and in the process, a local police officer shot and killed one of the looters.

“This brings the total number of deaths recorded since the start of the protests to seven, not 13 as claimed by Amnesty International.”

He said no other fatalities had been recorded since the start of the protests apart from the seven cases mentioned.

However, Adejobi said cases of armed robbery, arson, vandalism, looting of public institutions and private businesses, and destruction of public and private properties were recorded during the protests.

He said the arrests were made in connection with a criminal incident and a number of pieces of evidence were confiscated from the suspects during the demonstration.

‘Seven, not 13 killed in Nigeria protests,’ Amnesty Int’l Police responds first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.