Conflicts & War

56 killed in Nigerian protests against police brutality

Abuja, Oct 22 (efe-epa).- At least 56 people have died in Nigeria since protests against police brutality started on 8 October.

A total of 38 people were killed during military repression in Lagos on Tuesday, Amnesty International told Efe on Thursday.

Isa Sunasi, spokesman for AI Nigeria, urged security forces to “act with moderation and caution” and to respect Nigerians’ right to freedom of assembly and movement.

The death toll includes at least 12 demonstrators who were killed on Tuesday in the Alausa district and at the Lekki toll station in Lagos, where military personnel opened fire, AI said.

Tuesday’s violent repression came two weeks after the beginning of protests under the banner “End SARS”, an acronym for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a former Nigerian unit accused of arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings.

“People want to feel protected. Nigerians desperately want an end to police brutality,” AI told Efe.

A young software designer Okechukwu Obi-Enadhuze was reportedly a victim of the violence.

He was stabbed to death in his home in Lagos state by a group that ransacked his home, according to his brother and witnesses.

“Let it be known that my brother was not killed by a police bullet but died a hero protecting my mother and I,” his brother Daniel Obi-Enadhuze said on Twitter.

“He was not killed by a police bullet but by thugs in his home,” he added.

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