CSOs faults police on apology demand from Amnesty over protests’ report

A coalition of civil society organisations has condemned the Nigeria Police and its recent demand for a retraction and apology from Amnesty International regarding the publication “Bloody August: Nigeria Government’s Violent Crackdown on #EndBadGovernance Protests.”

In a statement signed by 10 activists on behalf of the Network of Abuja Left Groups and made available to The Guardian, they said that as participants and mobilisers of the protests, they stood in solidarity with Amnesty International and affirmed the validity of the report.

The activists who signed the statement include: Salako Kayode (Revolutionary Socialist Movement), Abu Oghenero (Socialist Workers League), Omole Ibukun (Creative Change Centre), Gerald Katchy (Committee for the Defence of Human Rights), and Hauwa Mustapha (ASCAB).

Others are Comrade Destiny (Civil Rights Council), Chinedu Chinedu (Movement for African Emancipation), Maxwell Adeyemi (Socialist Labour), Adaramoye Michael Lenin (Democratic Socialist Movement and Youths Rights Campaign—YRC), and Daniel Akande (Solidarity Network for Workers’ Rights).

They condemn what they called “intimidation tactics and attempts to silence critics, including Amnesty International,” even as they demanded a retraction and apology from the police.

The statement read: “The NPF’s denial of human rights violations and police brutality during the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests is nothing but a blatant attempt to conceal the truth and undermine the legitimate demands of the Nigerian people for accountability and justice. The evidence presented in the report, including eyewitness accounts, videos, and photographs, and even the Nigerian Government-Owned Human Rights Commission reports, clearly contradict the NPF’s and Muyiwa Adejobi’s claims of professionalism and restraint. Members of our network were arrested by the police in Gestapo style and subjected to torture at the IGP-IRT detention centre in Guzape, Abuja. Some of them are yet to heal from that torture as families of protesters murdered in Abuja continue to mourn.

“We condemn the NPF’s intimidation tactics and attempts to silence critics, including Amnesty International. We believe it is not another case of giving a dog a bad name in order to kill it, as seen in the case with NLC, CDHR, SERAP, among others that experienced crackdown by the police during and after the protest.

“We stand in solidarity with the victims of police brutality and their families, who have been denied justice and accountability for too long. We demand an independent and impartial investigation into the human rights violations committed during the protests, and we call on the Nigerian government to take concrete steps to address the brutality, corruption, and impunity in the Nigerian Police. We demand an end to the sham trial of the 11 Abuja protesters arraigned for treason, and we call on the Tinubu government to heed the demands of the #EndBadGovernance protests.

“Also, we reject the in-house probe conducted by the NPF on the order of the IGP; the NPF, as an indicted party in the report made by Amnesty International, cannot constitute itself as a jury. Therefore, we call for an impartial, open, and transparent probe panel consisting of human rights organisations, civil society, Labour Congress, and professional bodies like NUJ, NBA to probe into the atrocities of the police force during the #EndBadGovernance protest.”