Mr Macaroni leads peace walk to commemorate #EndSARS 3rd anniversary.

The Amnesty International report added that many peaceful #EndSARS protesters have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while in detention since 2020.

They include Oluwole Isa, currently held in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre, who told Amnesty International how he was tortured while in detention at the SARS facility in Ikeja:

“I was tied with a rope. They bent me backwards and tied my hands and legs together at my back. An iron rod was passed in between my tied legs and hands. With the iron road, I was suspended on an iron bar. Then, they started beating me with a machete and wooden batons. They were forcing me to admit that I was involved in vandalism during the #EndSARS protests. When I could not bear the torture anymore, I told the Inspector that I would confess. At that point, I was almost going to die. He brought me down; I still have the scar of the machete cut on my throat …”

Resurgence of police brutality

The report also stated that there has been a resurgence of police brutality in the country despite the nationwide protest in 2020.

“In the past year alone, Amnesty International has documented the unlawful killing of at least six people by law enforcement officers. These include 31-year-old Gafaru Buraimoh, who was killed in Lagos on 6 December 2022, and Onyeka Ibe, who was killed on 5 April 2023 in Delta state for refusing to pay N100 bribe. Other cases include Faiz Abdullahi, who died in police custody in Kaduna on 30 July 2023 following torture during interrogation, and 17-year-old student Abdullahi Tukur Abba, who died in hospital after allegedly being tortured in police custody in Yola Adamawa state on 5 August 2023.

Amnesty International urged the government to take concrete and effective measures to end police impunity, including by giving clear directives to the police not to violate human rights.

It also stated that, “those suspected of violating human rights should be brought to justice in fair trials and without recourse to the death penalty. Genuine reforms must be initiated to end widespread human rights violations by the police. Nigeria has an obligation to ensure that torture and other ill-treatment are not carried out under any circumstances.”