AhlulBayt News Agency

source : PressTV
Friday

16 October 2020

10:53:29 AM
1078652

Nigerians stage new demonstration against police brutality

Demonstrators were back on the streets of Nigerian capital, Lagos, on Thursday, intensifying their demand for an end to police brutality.

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Demonstrators were back on the streets of Nigerian capital, Lagos, on Thursday, intensifying their demand for an end to police brutality.

Shouting "End SARS!" protesters gathered near the airport, blocking traffic.

Nigeria's Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is a unit that demonstrators have long accused of beatings, killings and extortion.

In response to the daily protests in Lagos and other cities across the country, the head of Nigeria's police force dissolved SARS on Sunday.

Protesters have staged daily marches for a week, calling for an overhaul of police forces.

Police have responded to the demonstrations with beatings, tear gas and gunfire, which human rights group Amnesty International said had killed at least 10 people.

Police agreed on Tuesday to stop using force against protesters.

The military, which in recent years has repeatedly been accused of human rights abuses that it has denied, issued a statement late on Wednesday titled "Nigerian Army warns subversive elements and trouble makers."

Nigerian protesters have been calling for more meaningful police reforms, saying they fear a new unit, whose creation to "fill the gaps" left by SARS was announced on Tuesday, was just a rebranding of the controversial squad.

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