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Eighty-three thousand seven hundred nineteen (83,719) individuals have signed a petition asking the United Kingdom to sanction the members of the Nigerian government and police force for human rights abuses over the #EndSARS movement. This was as of 12.51 am on Wednesday when ThePunch visited the petition page. The petition, which was created by one Silas Ojo, seeks to generate 100,000 signatures. “At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament,” a note beneath the petition with a deadline of April 20, 2021 read. The petition on the UK government and parliament website read, “There have been deeply concerning reports of a Nigerian police force unit (SARS) engaging in illegal activities and human rights abuses, and there have also been reports of police firing at protesters calling for SARS to be disbanded. “Implement sanctions against the Nigerian government and officials. “The government should explore using the new sanctions regime that ...

The Academic Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria on Tuesday said policing in Nigeria has been turned into an instrument of terror, causing great harm and injury to innocent people who are supposed to be protected. The group, in a statement by its spokesperson, Abdullahi Muhammad Musa, accused the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, of being complicit in killings of innocent Shi’ites by police officers. AFIM called on the Nigerian government to release Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, its leader, from detention. The statement read, “The brutality of the Nigerian police force is impossible to be justified. What excuses or alibis have the police got for killing or injuring protesters? “They were calling for the immediate and unconditional release of an oppressed person that the Nigerian Army had traced to his residence, spraying him and his wife with bullets, slaying his three sons before his naked eyes, eliminating over a thousand of his followers, dragging him on the gory co...

Yinka Odumakin, the National Publicity Secretary of Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, has criticised the Nigerian government for the way it has been handling the #ENDSARS protests rocking the country. Odumakin, who spoke with SaharaReporters Tuesday night, was reacting to the gruesome killing of the #EndSARS protesters by the Nigerian Army at Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos. Also in a chat with SaharaReporters on Tuesday, a former Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition and Convener, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms, Ayo Opadokun, described the killings as “unfortunate and a national calamity.” The peaceful protesters, who were demanding police reforms, were shot at Lekki after the street cameras and light went off.  Scores of people were reportedly killed. Odumakin described the incident as unfortunate, saying it was capable of leading to a civil war in some countries. He said, “It is unfortunate that Nigeria is under a leadership that doesn’t know ho...

Nigerians have taken to the microblogging sites, Facebook and Twitter, to criticise President Muhammadu Buhari over the killing of unarmed protesters in the Lekki area of Lagos Tuesday night. Security operatives shot unarmed EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate.  Buhari Sallau, a Personal Assistant to President Buhari, shared multiple posts showing the president in good spirits as he received the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, further aggravating the tension. He captioned the photos, “President Buhari Receives Emir Of Kano Bayero Royal Visit: President @MBuhari (M) receives in audience Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Aminu Ado Bayero at the Residence Tuesday night Presidential Villa Abuja. October 20 2020.” The post came while Nigerians were mourning those killed and trying to get help for the injured following what has now been tagged the Lekki toll gate massacre. Sallau’s post, coming in the middle of this grief, angered Nigerians and they called him...

Despite video and pictorial evidence, the Nigerian Army has denied opening fire and killing peaceful #ENDSARS protesters at Lekki , Lagos. The army said this while reacting to a report by SaharaReporters that soldiers shot peaceful demonstators. “No soldiers were at the scene,” the Nigerian Army said via its official Twitter handle. Over 10 people have been reportedly killed while many had been left with gunshot injuries after soldiers launched the deadly attack on Tuesday night to disperse the youth. Video recorded by protesters showed army shooting at those demonstrating. Here's the clearest view I've seen thus far of some of the gunfire at Lekki Toll gate. In this footage, men in camo uniform fire their weapons at: 6.435886, 3.447423, 15m from the East side of the toll gate. Some of the #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigera protestors had sat down. pic.twitter.com/Vq9iKyAVqt — Bertram Hill (@bertram_hill1) October 20, 2020 A clearer video of the massacreðŸ...