#EndBadGovernace Protest: Amnesty International condemns killings of peaceful protesters

Amnesty International has condemned the killing of peaceful demonstrators in Northern Nigeria by the security forces for clamouring against economic hardship in the country.

In a series of tweets posted on its verified X account on Friday, the human rights organisation called on the government at all levels to ensure that those responsible for the gruesome killing are brought to justice.

“The Nigerian authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure that security personnel suspected of responsibility for deadly use of force are held to account through fair trial. Violent crackdown on peaceful protesters is unjustified and unacceptable.

“Our findings, so far, show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty,” the rights group said.

The organisation said that the Nigerian security agencies’ unlawful attitude of using firearms as tactical tools for the management of protests must end.

It said the protest has recorded deaths from different areas in Borno, Kaduna and Niger States.

Protest

Earlier, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the #EndBadGovernance protest occasioned by President Bola Tinubu’s policies turned violent in some states as thousands of Nigerians began a 10-day nationwide protest on Thursday to express their frustration over lingering economic hardship.

In some cases, the violence was caused by the actions of security officials while in others, the violence occurred due to the actions of some overzealous protesters or counter-protesters.

The police in Kaduna State, along with the army and other sister security agencies embarked on a ‘Confidence Building Show of Force Operation’ in Kaduna on Wednesday.

At least one protester has been confirmed dead after police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Suleja, Niger State, on Thursday.