PRAY FOR NIGERIA..
12 killed’ in latest brutality as stars back youth demos
IT started with protests against a murderous police unit and it has escalated into brutal security clampdowns in Nigeria.
Claims of bloodied corpses littering the streets and dozens of wounded demonstrators mark a tipping point.
Millions are under curfew, with police and soldiers quelling protests with batons, gas and assault rifles.
The West African country is under the threat of mass civil unrest as the United Nations warned there had been “multiple deaths” in its largest city Lagos. Soldiers were reported to have opened fire on thousands of demonstrators without warning on Tuesday night.
Amnesty International said at least 12 people were killed and hundreds injured.
Investigators said as many as 56 have died since protests began nearly two weeks ago, with CCTV dismantled to hide the evidence.
Osai Ojigho, its Nigeria Director, accused security forces of acting out “extrajudicial executions”.
UN secretary- general Antonio Guterres urged the authorities to de-escalate the situation.
Even the disbandment on October 11 of the Serious Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) – suspected of murder, extortion and torture – has failed to stop a country teetering towards revolt.
Sports stars have spoken of their distress, with Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo urging: “Pray for Nigeria”, while Everton’s Alex Iwobi tweeted a bloodstained Nigerian flag.
Other supporters include boxer Anthony Joshua, musician Estelle, Twitter founder
Jack Dorsey, rapper Kanye West, actor John Boyega and footballers Mesut Ozil, Marcus Rashford, Reece James, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi. Singer Beyonce has also said she is
“heartbroken” over the brutality. In London demonstrators gathered at the Nigerian High Commission yesterday, while in Lagos gunfire rang out and fires raged across the city of 14 million people.
British troops who are training local forces on tackling terrorism are on high alert. Protesters want an overhaul of the domestic security system, while the young want better job prospects. Nigeria’s average age is 18 and, with half of its citizens under 30,
an uprising seems ever more possible. More than a third of 15 to 34-yearolds are unemployed, with cities hit by sporadic electricity and complaints of a poorly serviced education system.
President Muhammadu Buhari appealed for “understanding and calm”, while Lagos state governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu said only one person had died.
But the speaker of the Nigerian parliament’s lower chamber said it was “unavoidably and painfully clear there were a number of casualties”.
A toll gate in the Lekki district as well as the Alausa area were two places where human rights campaigners said deaths took place.
Witness Inyene Akpan,
26, said more than 20 soldiers arrived at the gate and opened fire.
Akinbosola Ogunsanya said he saw around 10 people being shot, and soldiers removing bodies.
The army said no soldiers were at the scene. A live feed from broadcaster Arise TV showed armed police speaking to groups of locals, and
dozens of charred buses. In South Africa, hundreds of Nigerians demanded “a new and better Nigeria”.
The nation is suffering the economic fallout of Covid- 19 that has infected more than 60,000 and killed 1,125.
Last night UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “I am alarmed by widespread reports of civilian deaths.”
Painfully clear there were a number of casualties
PARLIAMENT’S LOWER CHAMBER SPEAKER