Amnesty International (AI) on Tuesday called on Federal Government to investigate human rights violations as well as the security crisis in the South-East region of Nigeria.
The international human rights group, which made the call through statement issued in Enugu on Tuesday, said that to address the crisis, the Nigerian government to carry out transparent, impartial and effective investigation of killings, assassinations, enforced disappearances and other atrocities committed by state and non-state actors since August 2015.
The organization added that the persistent failure of the government to address the security crisis in the country’s South-East region has created a free-for-all reign of impunity in which numerous state and nonstate actors have committed serious human rights violations and killed at least 1,844 people between January 2021 and June 2023.
The rights group added that the report: A Decade of Impunity: Attacks and Unlawful Killings in Southeast Nigeria, which documents unlawful killings, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests at the hands of rampaging gunmen, state-backed paramilitary outfits, vigilante, criminal gangs and cults groups in the South-East region provides the authorities with adequate leads to open an investigation that will end the impunity and provide victims with justice.
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“The Nigerian authorities’ brutal clampdown on pro-Biafra protests from August 2015 plunged the South-East region into an endless cycle of bloodshed, which has created a climate of fear and left many communities vulnerable.
“Assassinations of prominent personalities and attacks on highways, security personnel and facilities are chilling reminders of the region’s insecurity,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
The report, according to Amnesty, is based on interviews with 100 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, civil society members, lawyers, traditional leaders, and religious leaders.
Amnesty International said it also conducted research missions to Owerri in Imo state, Asaba in Delta state, Obosi in Anambra state, and Enugu in Enugu state between April 2023 to November 2023.
