Lekki shootings: Amnesty alleges threat to workers’ lives

Global rights organisation, Amnesty International, has alleged that the lives of his employees were in danger following its reports of the Lekki shootings of October 20, 2020.

Amnesty, in a statement on Friday, said some faceless groups issued threats to attack its workers and office premises.

It, therefore, called on the Nigerian authorities to “to ensure the protection of lives and properties of every person in the country”.

The statement read, “Amnesty International draws the attention of the Nigerian authorities and the general public to the intimidation and outright threats of attacks that were issued against its staff, supporters, and premises by a faceless and unknown group at a press conference held on 4 November 2020.

“Similar faceless groups had previously invaded our office and given us ultimatum to leave Nigeria.

“Amnesty International is a global human rights movement and we are independent of any government. Our mandate is to hold authorities to account for their human right obligations and commitments. This, we have consistently done since June 1967 when we first started working in and on Nigeria.

“Every person whose rights are violated is entitled to an effective remedy. Exposing human rights violations and seeking redress for them is largely dependent on the degree of security enjoyed by civil society groups like Amnesty International.

“The Nigerian authorities owe a legal duty to ensure the protection of lives and properties of every person in the country. Malicious threats will not deter us from continuing to speak against human rights violations and abuses by state and non-state actors.”

It was earlier reported that Amnesty released the timeline of the shootings of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll plaza.

It had also claimed at least 10 persons were killed at the tollgate and warned the Nigerian authorities against a cover-up.