Nigeria: police and army warned over abuse of power

Amnesty International in Nigeria has urged the country’s police and military forces not to “abuse their power” when enforcing lockdown measures for the coronavirus.

Videos have been circulating online of citizens being beaten on the streets by law enforcement agencies. 

Nigeria’s inspector of general police warned officers to carry out their duties “humanely, tactfully and professionally,” and said they would be monitored closely. 

Similarly, the army’s chief staff has been told by Senator Dino Meyaleto to discipline soldiers who were “taking the law into their own hands”. 

Mr Meyaleto said he had heard reports of people being shot in parts of the country and that this needed to stop before “it becomes a riotous situation”. 

Further reports say an inmate at Kaduna prison in northern Nigeria died as the result of a riot sparked by coronavirus fears. 

Nigeria initiated a state of lockdown in the major cities of Lagos and Abuja from Monday in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

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