Amnesty Int’l demands justice for 60 pro-Biafra protesters killed four years ago by security operatives

Amnesty International on Saturday regretted that after four years, justice was yet to come the way of about 60 pro-Biafra protesters killed in Nkpor, Anambra State.

The protesters were killed during “Biafra Day” celebrations in May 2016, bu security operatives.

The rights group had then accused the Nigeria Army of carrying out the extra-judicial executions. It added that about 100 of the protesters were also injured.

Though the Nigerian military assured to investigate the killings, however, four years after the gory incident, they military is yet to release a report of a commission of inquiry it set up on the matter in 2017.

In a statement on Saturday by Osai Ojigho, the country director of Amnesty International Nigeria, the right group urged the Nigerian government to ensure that those suspected of criminal responsibility of the 2016 killings were brought to trial and the victims and their families receive reparations, including adequate compensation.

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“Victims of the bloody killing in Nkpor, Anambra State, in which over 60 pro-Biafra protesters were killed and at least 100 injured by Nigerian security forces on May 30, 2016, are still awaiting justice four years on.

“Families and relatives of the victims of the 2016 massacre have been waiting.

“The tragedy of the Nkpor killing is compounded by the shocking fact that no one suspected to be responsible for the bloodshed has yet been held accountable.

“If the Nigerian government wants to demonstrate that it is committed to truth and human rights, it needs to ensure that the wheels of justice start turning far faster than they have done over the past four years.

“Despite overwhelming evidence that members of the Nigerian security forces fired live ammunition to disperse pro-Biafra gatherings, resulting in the death of at least 150 people, no person suspected of criminal responsibility has been brought to justice,” the statement read.

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