Amnesty International said a total of fifteen protesters arrested during the #EndSARS protest of 2020 are still being arbitrarily detained three years later.
The international organisation on Friday said in a statement on its website that the majority of the protesters are in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos without trial.
The organisation also accused the authorities of filing trumped-up charges including theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder against many of the protesters
“Our investigation shows the Nigerian authorities’ utter disdain for human rights. Three years in detention without trial is a travesty of justice. This shows the authorities’ contempt for due process of law. The protesters must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Isa Sanusi Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
It listed seven #EndSARS protesters, Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq Adigun, Sunday Okoro, Olumide Fatai, Oluwole Isa, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin to have been arbitrarily held in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.
While another eight protesters, Segun Adeniyi, Onuorah Odih, Jeremiah Lucky, Gideon Ikwujomah, Irinyemi Olorunwanbe, Quadri Azeez, Olamide Lekan and Sadiq Riliwan, according to the organisation, are currently detained without trial in Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos since 2020.
One of those detained, Daniel Joy-Igbo, a Beninois, arrested in Lagos in October 2020, told Amnesty International that he had been detained at the Bar Beach Police Station, the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, and at a SARS facility in Ikeja.
“Since my arraignment in December 2020, I have been locked up in the prison without trial. Since then, there has been no adjourned date for my case. I have not been taken to court since December 2020,” he said
Sodiq Adigun, also arrested in October 2020, who was previously detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti said, “Let the government release me. I have been detained since 2020 without trial. I am innocent. My life has been shattered. I need my liberty,” he said
The organisation 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.”
