An
investigation conducted by the Amnesty International confirmed that the
Nigerian army gunned down civilian’s months ahead of the Pro-Biafra
commemoration event which took place last month in Onitsha Anambra state. Testimonials of eye witness, morgues and hospitals proved that in the month of May 2016, between 29-30, the Military of Nigeria opened fire on the member of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB). According to M.K Ibrahim, Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, “a person was shot to death after the authorities burst in on them while they slept”.
The supporters of IPOB impose no threat or harm to anyone. The shooting towards them was the use of unnecessary power, and force that resulted to multiple deaths and injuries.
The number of deaths is yet to be identified, because the Nigerian army took away corpses and the Injured. However, the Amnesty International reported via various sources that the estimate number of those who were 40, and those who were injured in the cross fire were 50.
The leadership of IPOB declared that more than 50 of their members were killed. The Nigerian army stated that they acted based on self-defense, and they claimed that the actual number of IPOB members who died were 5. The amnesty international has no proof of evidence that the killings were done necessarily for the safety of the civilians because some of the dead and injured IPOB supporters were shot in the back as an indicator or evacuating the scene. Although the police authority also claimed that IPOB members killed two of their officers, the claim remains to be confirmed.
Such act of genocide would not be supported by the motion of the army’s argument which claims to be an act of self-defense.
A joint investigation was conducted by the Nigeria rmy, police and navybetween the night of 29th May, which was intended to prevent a rally march organized by the IPOB in Nkpor motor park. The military raided homes, and churches where the IPOB members sought for shelter, right before the rally.
The following are the testimonials of the civilians:
IPOB supporters told
Amnesty International that hundreds of people who had come from neighbouring
states, were asleep in the St Edmunds Catholic church when soldiers stormed the
compound on 29 May.
I saw one boy trying to answer a question. He immediately raised
his hands, but the soldiers opened fire…He lay down, lifeless. I saw this
myself
A 32-year-old hair
dresser who was in the church told Amnesty International: “At about midnight we
heard someone banging the door. We refused to open the door but they forced the
door open and started throwing teargas. They also started shooting inside the
compound. People were running to escape. I saw one guy shot in the stomach. He
fell down but the teargas could not allow people to help him. I did not know
what happened to the guy as I escaped and ran away.”
Another witness told
Amnesty International that on the morning of 30 Mayhe saw soldiers open fire on
a group of around 20 men and boys aged between 15 and 45 at the Nkpor Motor
Park on the morning of 30 May. He says that five of them were killed.“I stood
about two poles [approximately 100 metres] away from where the men were being
shot and killed. I couldn’t quite hear what they were asking the boys, but I
saw one boy trying to answer a question. He immediately raised his hands, but
the soldiers opened fire…He lay down, lifeless. I saw this myself.”
The witness described
how military officers loaded men with gunshot wounds into one van, and what
appeared to be corpses into another.
Later that morning,
another witness described how police shot a child bystander as a group of young
men protested the shootings, blocking a road and burning tyres along the
Eke-Nkpor junction.
He told Amnesty
International: “I heard a police siren and everybody started running
helter-skelter. I ran away with other people, but before we left, the police
fired tear gas at us and shot a boy in my presence. He was just hawking in the
street. He wasn’t even there to protest,” he said.
The supporters of IPOB impose no threat or harm to anyone. The shooting towards them was the use of unnecessary power, and force that resulted to multiple deaths and injuries.
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