Nigeria security forces alleged to have killed 18 people while enforcing lockdown directive

A total of 18 people are alleged to have been killed by Nigeria security forces as they cracked down on those flouting the country’s lockdown directives while the virus itself had claimed only 12 lives.

President Mahamudu Buhari, on March 30,  declared a 14-day lockdown of Nigeria’s commercial hub; Lagos, Abuja and Ogun.

The announcement was made a little over a month after Nigeria had confirmed its first case.

“All citizens in these areas are to stay in their homes. Travel to or from other states should be postponed. All businesses and offices within these locations should be fully closed during this period,” Buhari said in an address to the nation.

The restrictions announced, however, did not apply to hospitals and stores selling essential items such as groceries and medicine.

But days into the lockdown, Daily mail reported that the country’s National Human Rights Commission had announced that 18 people had died in ‘extra-judicial killings’ in eight separate incidents.

“It’s a sheer display of impunity and reckless disregard for human life in law enforcement by security personnel,” the commission said.

“The virus itself has claimed 12 lives out of 407 confirmed cases, in an outbreak which has sent the capital Abuja and megacity of Lagos into lockdown,” it argued.

The commission accused the security forces of violating human rights with “excessive or disproportionate use of force, abuse of power, corruption and no adherence to international and national human rights laws.”

The human rights commission claimed that the Nigeria Correctional Service was responsible for eight of the killings and the Nigeria Police Force was responsible for seven.

It added that the Nigerian Army was behind two of them while the Ebonyi State Task Force was responsible for one.

The rights watchdog, however, did not give further details of the circumstances in which the 18 people were killed.

Other ‘violations’ included 33 alleged incidents of torture or inhumane and degrading treatment, the report said.

There were also reports of unlawful arrests, 19 incidents of seizure of property and 13 examples of extortion, it claimed.

In response to the allegations by the commission, the National police spokesman, Frank Mba, said the commission was too general in its allegations.

“The commission should have given details of those killed by the police, their number, names and places where they were killed to enable us take appropriate actions,” he said.

He said the police would continue to enforce the lockdown measures “professionally and in line with international best practices.”

He said the police authorities would not condone any abuses or infractions against its personnel, adding that recently an officer who extorted money from a civilian was punished and made to refund it to the owner.