Amnesty International Public Statement

Since the powerful #EndSARS protest, Nigerian authorities have failed to investigate the killing of at least 56 people by the army and police. Many of those arrested for participating in the protest are locked up in jails while several others face trumped-up charges. Take action now to demand justice for those who died standing against police violence in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, women’s rights took a new blow after senators rejected for the third time five bills that sought to promote gender equality in the country. We need to unite in solidarity to end traditions, practices, and laws that harm women. Take action now and demand the National Assembly to reconsider all gender bills.

Amnesty International Nigeria today launches #TalkYourTruth- a campaign to protect freedom of expression in Nigeria, as critics, journalists and individuals who express dissenting views face intimidation, threats and sometimes arrest by security forces. 

Alarming escalation of attacks, abductions for ransom and frequent killings across Nigeria have left people feeling more unsafe, showing utter failure of the Nigerian authorities to protect lives and properties, said Amnesty International today marking the 60th anniversary of the organization.  

Tens of thousands of children in Nigeria are missing out on their education because of the authorities’ ongoing failure to protect schools, particularly in northern Nigeria, from attacks by insurgents and other armed groups, Amnesty International said today.

Boko Haram fighters targeted women and girls with rape and other sexual violence, amounting to war crimes, during recent raids in northeast Nigeria, new research by Amnesty International has revealed. 

Responding to the abduction of 42 persons by gunmen at the Government Science College Kagara Niger state Nigeria, in the early hours of today, Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said:   

Nigerian authorities have failed to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the brutal crackdown by security forces on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos in October 2020 and have brazenly attempted to cover up the violence, said Amnesty International Nigeria today, 100 days on from the attacks. 

Responding to Boko Haram’s claim of responsibility for the abduction of more than 500 students from Government Science Secondary School in the town of Kankara, Katsina State, Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said:  

Older people have suffered in unique ways from the conflict that has raged for almost a decade in Northeast Nigeria, with many starved or slaughtered in their homes or left to languish and die in squalid, unlawful military detention, Amnesty International said in a new report today.The 67-page report, “My heart is in pain”: Older people’s experience of conflict, displacement, and detention in Northeast Nigeria, shows how both Boko Haram and the Nigerian military have committed atrocities against older women and men, with nobody held to account. It also focuses on how displaced older people are consistently overlooked by the humanitarian response.

The Nigerian authorities’ must end their attempts to cover up the Lekki Toll Gate massacre, Amnesty International said, as it released a new timeline investigating the atrocity one week later.