The Nigeria Police Force has rejected allegations made by Amnesty International in its report titled “Bloody August: Nigeria Government’s Violent Crackdown on #EndBadGovernance Protests”.
According to the police, the claims of extrajudicial killings during the August 1-10 #hunger protests are false, misleading, and damaging to the image of the Force. The report, released on , accused the police of killing at least 24 people in six northern states. However, the police have refuted these claims, stating that their findings contradict Amnesty International’s allegations.
The Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said a special investigative panel was constituted to verify the claims, and the panel found inaccuracies in Amnesty International’s allegations. Adejobi added that the police would write to demand a retraction of the report as well as a public apology for the alleged inaccuracies. The police also urged the public to be wary of sensational reports designed to incite mistrust and weaken confidence in law enforcement institutions.
In Borno State, the police found that the protesters were violent, engaging in widespread looting and destruction of public and private property. The police also debunked claims of killings in Niger, Katsina, and Kaduna States, and found that the deaths reported in Kano State resulted from violent confrontations involving looters and criminals, not police activity
