Report: Nigerian security forces killed 150 peaceful protesters

Security forces killed at least 150 peaceful protesters in south-eastern Nigeria over a year-long period from August 2015, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The extrajudicial killings and violence took place between August 2015 and August 2016 when people marched to demand the creation of a state for the indigenous people of Biafra, the international rights group said after analyzing 87 videos, 122 photographs and 146 witness reports.

The military consistently fired live ammunition with little or no warning to disperse crowds, according to the report.

Amnesty also found 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 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 Amnesty's interim Nigeria director Makmid Kamara.

There was also a "disturbing pattern of hundreds of arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment by soldiers," the report found, including arrests of wounded victims in hospital, and torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.

The military rejected the accusations as "an outright attempt to tarnish the reputation of the security forces."

The army had reacted responsibly and "exercised maximum restraints" despite being attacked by the protesters with firearms, army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement.

More than five police officers were killed during the protests, while several soldiers were wounded, Sani added.

In 1966, an attempt by the Biafra movement to form a state led to a four-year civil war.

(eblnews.com)