Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

HRW urges Nigerian security forces to respect human rights in response to COVID-19

Human Rights Watch has expressed caution with respects to Nigeria’s plans to deploy police and soldiers to enforce social distancing warning that they have been implicated in a number of human rights abuses including “arbitrary arrests, extortion, illegal detention, and use of excessive force”.

Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police has directed police to enforce compliance with social distancing in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Nigeria has banned large gatherings and shut down schools in its capital, Abuja, the capital, as well as other key states. In Lagos, night clubs and bars have been ordered to close down whilst Ekiti, Ogun, Osun, and Rivers have adopted similar measures.

HRW has warned of Nigeria’s record of excessive violence when responding to large gatherings with little to no accountability for abuses. In their report, they detail an instance on 23 March 2020, when the Nigerian security forces fired live ammunition and teargas on Shia protesters.

Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, spoke against unnecessary arrests and detention of suspects as they work to enforce social distancing but HRW also called upon him affirm the police’s commitment to human rights and to ensure “a clear message that there will be accountability for any such violation”.

Read HRW’s full statement here.

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.