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Law enforcement officers open fire on protesters in Nigeria: ‘More …

Several people were killed by the police during demonstrations in the Nigerian city of Lagos on Tuesday evening. That says human rights organization Amnesty International. There is no official confirmation yet. The peaceful protesters violated the restraining order imposed to stop the major protest movement in the country.

Although there is no official confirmation from the Nigerian authorities yet, Amnesty International has “credible evidence of excessive violence against protesters resulting in death.” The human rights organizations let this know via Twitter. It wants to remind governments that under international law, law enforcement may only act life-threatening if there is a fatal or at least a very serious threat.

That did not seem to be the case on Tuesday, when a thousand protesters violated the restraining order by gathering at a toll booth in Lekki district, Lagos state. According to eyewitnesses, the atmosphere was initially peaceful and festive. Later, more than twenty soldiers advanced to the tollbooth, where they opened fire on the crowd. Several witnesses believe that in addition to dozens of injuries, there were also fatalities. An eyewitness told Reuters news agency that he saw ten people hit. He also saw soldiers removing bodies.

Amnesty International is trying to find out exactly how many victims there were. Estimates from different news sources vary widely, from two to twenty.

Restraining order in Africa’s largest city came on Tuesday after Nigerian youths have been demonstrating against police violence in their country for more than two weeks.. In addition, violent confrontations with the security forces have occurred more often.

President Muhammadu Buhari calls for “calm.” He reiterates that work is being done on police reforms. He is silent about the violent incident at the tollbooth. A spokesman for the government of Lagos State announced on Twitter an investigation into the violent intervention by the army. The Nigerian army calls the testimonials ‘fake news’.

US presidential candidate Joe Biden asks the Nigerian president to stop violence against protesters. He calls for dialogue with citizens and urges the United States to show solidarity with the peaceful protesters. His statement appeared hours after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Nigeria on Tuesday night to “stop killing protesters.”

#EndSARS

The street protest started online in early October with the hashtag #EndSARS. SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) is a controversial police force in the country. By the way, that hashtag has been circulating since 2017, but a recent video of police brutality lit the fuse.

Young Nigerians massively shared the images of a young Nigerian being shot by a SARS agent. Under the hashtag, they shared their own experiences with the police and demanded the end of the hated police unit. SARS was founded in 1992 to fight violent crime, but gradually began to ‘mirror itself more and more towards the gangs it served to fight,’ according to The Guardian.

After more than a week of protests, it seemed as if the young Nigerians had gotten their way: police announced via Twitter that SARS would be shut down. The members would go to work elsewhere within the police. Critics, who accuse the police of torture and extortion, say it is old wine in new bottles. So the protests did not abate.

Amnesty International said on Monday that at least 15 people died in the confrontations in the country, including 2 police officers.

Online, the case received worldwide acclaim, after well-known American musicians such as Cardi B, Trey Songz and Kanye West spoke out. In the meantime, Beyoncé has also expressed her support for the # EndSARS movement. In his own country, the Nigerian world star Burna Boy already gave the demonstrators a heart.

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