Abuja, NIGERIA
Nigerian security forces killed 18 people in two weeks
while enforcing lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the new coronavirus,
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said.
Nigeria,
sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous country and biggest energy producer, has
recorded 407 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths from the highly
contagious lung disease.
Lockdowns
initially slated to last 14 days were put in place on March 30 in the southern
commercial hub Lagos, neighbouring Ogun state and the capital Abuja. They were
extended on Sunday by two weeks and other states, such as the northern economic
hub Kano, have also imposed restrictions.
The NHRC, an
independent body, said in a statement dated April 15 that there had been “eight
documented incidents of extrajudicial killings leading to 18 deaths” between
March 30 and April 13.
It said the
killings were carried out by the Nigerian Correctional Service, the police
force and army.
In response,
a spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service said four inmates had died
after violence broke out and left a number of prisoners and staff hospitalised.
The rights commission report alleged eight deaths.
The Nigeria
Police Force and the Nigerian Army did not respond to phone calls seeking
comment on the NHRC statement.
The
statement said “law enforcement agents extrajudicially executed 18 persons in
the cause of the enforcement regulations” related to lockdown measures.
“The report
notes that most of the violations witnessed during the period arose as a result
of excessive or disproportionate use of force, abuse of power, corruption
and non-adherence to national and international laws, best practices and
rules of engagement,” the NHRC statement said.
The NHRC
said it had received 105 complaints of alleged human rights violations in the
first two weeks of the lockdown.
Nigerian
police and the military have repeatedly been accused by rights advocates of
using excessive force, but have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Last year
the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings also accused
Nigerian security forces of using excessive lethal force. The police and
military did not respond to those accusations.
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