Amnesty International has accused the Federal Government of consistently failing to tackle the escalating security breakdown in the South-East, warning that the unchecked violence has created an entrenched culture of impunity.
The organisation’s position was conveyed in a statement by its Social Media and Communication Officer, Michael Christian, on the release of its report, A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria.
The report paints a grim picture, stating that state and non-state actors have committed grave human rights abuses, resulting in at least 1,844 deaths between January 2021 and June 2023 in the region.
Amnesty International Nigeria’s Director, Isa Sanusi, stressed that the Federal Government must urgently meet its constitutional and international human rights obligations to citizens in the South-East.
“The brutal suppression of pro-Biafra protests since August 2015 has thrown the South-East into an unending spiral of bloodshed. This has fostered a climate of fear and left many communities exposed to violence. Assassinations of public figures and attacks on highways, security personnel, and facilities are stark indicators of the deepening insecurity,” Sanusi said.
He condemned what he described as the authorities’ deliberate inaction in the face of unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and destruction of property. Sanusi insisted that all suspected perpetrators must be prosecuted in fair trials, irrespective of their identity or status, and that victims and their families must have access to justice and effective remedies.
He noted that the true death toll in the South-East since August 2015 remains unknown, with numerous people either missing or forcibly disappeared.
“The spate of high-profile killings and the ever-present threat of attacks demonstrate how seriously the authorities are failing to safeguard lives, protect property, and maintain law and order. The prevailing impunity for human rights crimes continues to erode the enjoyment of other fundamental rights.
“The Nigerian authorities must guarantee the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty, and security of the people by taking decisive action to reverse the tide of insecurity. There must be prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, transparent, and effective investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses committed by both state and non-state actors in the region,” he added.
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