NIGERIA: Obasanjo admits extrajudicial killings by police, pledges action

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ABUJA, 19 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo has confirmed widespread extrajudicial killings of suspects and innocent citizens by the country's police and promised tough action to clean-up the force.

Obasanjo’s speech in Abuja on Thursday, in a rare acknowledgement of gross human rights violations by security forces, confirming recent findings by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and rights groups.

“These violations ranged from extra-judicial killings to torture and unlawful detention,” Obasanjo said at the opening of a forum on human rights called by the police.

According to Obasanjo, who headed a military government in the 1970s, Nigeria’s recent coup-riddled history has seen many large-scale violations of citizens’ most basic rights by the security forces.

But Obasanjo promised action in future, specifically in resolving a recent case in which policemen allegedly executed six people in Abuja and framed them as armed robbers.

“I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate that the government is determined to get to the root of the matter,” said Obasanjo. “The full weight of the law will be brought to bear on all who are found to have been involved in the perpetration of this most heinous crime."

The six officers could face the death penalty if found guilty.

A report released last month by New York-based Human Rights Watch said torture and killing of suspects by police officials was rampant in Nigeria and largely went unpunished.

A UN human rights expert on an official visit to review the human rights situation in Nigeria earlier in the same month said that police commonly use charges of armed robbery as a pretext for detaining people and extorting money from them. Police were also guilty of excessive force, often resulting in death, said the expert.

Government officials had defended Obasanjo’s government against the allegations, with Information Minister Frank Nweke denying that torture was a routine occurrence inside police stations.

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