The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has dismissed allegations made by Amnesty International (AI) in its #EndBadGovernance Protests report, describing the claims as false, misleading, and damaging to its image.
The report, titled “Bloody August: Nigeria Government’s Violent Crackdown on #EndBadGovernance Protests,” and dated November 28, 2024, accused the police of extrajudicial killings during the protests, claiming that at least 24 people were killed in six northern states.
Reacting to the report, the Force PRO, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said their findings contradicted all allegations made by Amnesty International.
Adejobi further stated that a special investigative panel had been constituted to verify the claims, and its funding showed something different.
He added that the police would write to demand the report be retracted and a public apology for the alleged inaccuracies.
While giving a breakdown of the police funding, the Force PRO said, “In Borno State, it was established that the protesters were violent, engaging in widespread looting, pillaging, and wanton destruction of public and private property.
“For example, the Skill Acquisition Centre of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees was looted and vandalised.”
“The warehouse of the World Food Programme, located on Baga/Maimalari Barracks Road, Maiduguri, was also looted, with several items belonging to the international organisation destroyed and stolen by some of the protesters.
“Therefore, the claims by Amnesty International that the police threw a hand grenade from a convoy of vehicles into a filling station, killing three persons, is a blatant falsehood and leaves right-thinking members of society dismayed at this reported falsehood by an international agency that ought to act under international norms and standards of fair and honest reporting of human rights violations in the country.”
He further said in Niger State, the claim that three individuals were shot dead in Suleja was debunked in the police findings.
Adejobi said the alleged killing of a 21-year-old in Katsina was also found to be unsubstantiated, adding that local sources confirmed that no such incident occurred.
The Force PRO added that Amnesty International reported the deaths of two women and a man during protests in Jigawa. Still, the police investigations revealed no such killings, and evidence suggested that the lone fatality was caused by protester violence, not police action.
