End Impunity In South-East, Amnesty Tells FG

Amnesty International has urged the Federal Government to put an end to the ongoing killings in the South-East region of Nigeria.

The Country Director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, made the call on Thursday during the relaunch of the organisation’s report titled “A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in South-East Nigeria,” which took place in Ikeja, Lagos State.

Amnesty International revealed in August that at least 1,844 people were killed in the South-East between January 2021 and June 2023.

The organisation accused Nigerian authorities of allowing a “free-for-all reign of impunity” in the region, where “numerous state and non-state actors have committed serious human rights violations”, causing fear and devastation in communities.

Amnesty linked the killings to gunmen, state-backed paramilitaries, vigilantes, criminal gangs, cult groups, and security agencies, including the military and police.

The report connected the violence to the government’s crackdown on pro-Biafra protests, which began in August 2015, and cited common occurrences of “unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property”.

During the press conference, Sanusi emphasised that the silence of South-East governors in response to Amnesty’s enquiries about the killings demonstrated a lack of commitment to addressing the violence, which has devastated families and hindered the region’s socioeconomic development.

He stated, “This indicates to us that the government is not taking the issue seriously. If they were, they would not ignore any communication regarding it.

“We reached out not only to the state governments but also to the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police, and all security agencies, yet they remained silent and refused to respond.

“This clearly shows they are not willing to address these issues. Therefore, when they claim they are committed to solving the problem, we do not believe them.

“These issues affect real people, and the government should be the first to acknowledge them.”

Sanusi called on the Federal Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged violence committed by state actors and to ensure the safety of lives and properties in the region.

“The Nigerian authorities must uphold their constitutional and international human rights obligations by guaranteeing, protecting, and ensuring the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty, security, and safety of the people while addressing the rampant insecurity in the South-East region.

“Authorities must conduct prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent, and effective investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses perpetrated by state and non-state actors in the region,” Sanusi concluded.

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, had ordered a review of Amnesty International’s report claiming extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the South-East.

The IGP stated that the review would compare these allegations with operational records, field intelligence, and reports from commands and tactical units in the region.

The Defence Headquarters, on its part, dismissed Amnesty International’s allegations of troop involvement in extrajudicial killings.

End Impunity In South-East, Amnesty Tells FG is first published on The Whistler Newspaper