UK Foreign Secretary statement on protests in Nigeria
Following the protests in Nigeria against police brutality and the allegations of the deaths of protesters, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has made the below statement.
I am deeply concerned by the recent violence and continued clashes in Nigeria, and am alarmed by widespread reports of civilian deaths.
We call for an end to violence. The Nigerian government must urgently investigate reports of brutality at the hands of the security forces and hold those responsible to account.
Today, the Nigerians are protesting in United Kingdom, South Africa and France
South Africa: Nigerian nationals living in South Africa on Wednesday spoke out against alleged human rights violations after police in Nigeria opened fire with live ammunition on protesters.
A group of Nigerians based in South Africa are set to join the #ENDSARS protests in solidarity with those caught in the crossfire on Tuesday night during the latest protest against police brutality and the controversial, now disbanded, special anti-robbery squad.
Witnesses claim soldiers opened fire on them in Lagos on Tuesday night, with rights groups receiving credible reports that as many as 20 people were killed.
Nigerians said authorities in their home country have not prosecuted a single officer from the notorious squad despite evidence that its members continued to use torture and other ill-treatment on civilians.
One woman on Wednesday said: “How do you open arms on children, of the people who have refused to fight for the dignity of a nation? How do you open arms on people who have left their homes to sit at a place to say ‘give us what we want in this nation’? The one who calls himself the leader or the president of a nation who doesn’t have any respect or remorse to come and address the people.”