Extra-judicial killings were rampant during the years of military rule in Nigeria and continue to exist till today, although authorities in both the police and the military continue to publicly deny these killings, or simply promise investigations that usually never see the light of day.
Last year, in the aftermath of clashes with members of a Muslim group in the northern part of the country, police and military units carried out extra-judicial killings which were caught on video and posted on YouTube (see video below)
An estimated 1,000 people were killed as government forces fought Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe, Kano and Bauchi states in July and August of 2009. However, the YouTube footage appear to suggest that most of the deaths occurred after the clash.
Elements of the security forces seem to have staged a follow-up operation in which house-to-house searches were conducted and individuals apparently selected at random and taken to a police station.
'Shoot him in the chest, not the head'
In the video (watch below), a number of unarmed men are seen being forced to lie down in the road outside a building. "Shoot him in the chest, not the head - I want his hat" said a security official as the men are forced to lie in the street in the northern city of Maiduguri last year.
Another security official raised his gun and shot the two in the back at point-blank range. The shootings continue as a crowd gathers further up the street in front of the police station.
Voices can be heard saying: "No mercy, no mercy."
Two officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests.
The family of Baba Fugu Mohammed, the father-in-law of Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram leader whose group had battled the police, alleged that he had been shot and killed by the police when he went to help to restore order.
'Killings of the innocent'
The government, police and military repeatedly denied that civilians had been killed by their personnel in the aftermath of the clash. But Nigerian officials acknowledge that extra-judicial killings took place and an inquiry was set up to investigate the incident.
"It was obvious [from] what we have seen and from the eye witnesses that the government police were doing the killings of the innocent," Abubakar Umar Garda, a senator and a member of Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic party, told Al Jazeera.
"The government is investigating the incident and as we go along the perpetrators will be put in front of the law and the law will take its course ... the government acknowledged that this was a crime against humanity ... you cannot shoot an unarmed civilian."
Prosecutions and disciplinary action against police are extremely rare in Nigeria. But after national outrage over the video, 17 police officers were arrested in February and face trial.
Adapted from original by Al Jazeera
Last year, in the aftermath of clashes with members of a Muslim group in the northern part of the country, police and military units carried out extra-judicial killings which were caught on video and posted on YouTube (see video below)
An estimated 1,000 people were killed as government forces fought Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe, Kano and Bauchi states in July and August of 2009. However, the YouTube footage appear to suggest that most of the deaths occurred after the clash.
Elements of the security forces seem to have staged a follow-up operation in which house-to-house searches were conducted and individuals apparently selected at random and taken to a police station.
'Shoot him in the chest, not the head'
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| The Nigerian Army |
Another security official raised his gun and shot the two in the back at point-blank range. The shootings continue as a crowd gathers further up the street in front of the police station.
Voices can be heard saying: "No mercy, no mercy."
Two officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests.
The family of Baba Fugu Mohammed, the father-in-law of Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram leader whose group had battled the police, alleged that he had been shot and killed by the police when he went to help to restore order.
'Killings of the innocent'
The government, police and military repeatedly denied that civilians had been killed by their personnel in the aftermath of the clash. But Nigerian officials acknowledge that extra-judicial killings took place and an inquiry was set up to investigate the incident.
"It was obvious [from] what we have seen and from the eye witnesses that the government police were doing the killings of the innocent," Abubakar Umar Garda, a senator and a member of Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic party, told Al Jazeera.
"The government is investigating the incident and as we go along the perpetrators will be put in front of the law and the law will take its course ... the government acknowledged that this was a crime against humanity ... you cannot shoot an unarmed civilian."
Prosecutions and disciplinary action against police are extremely rare in Nigeria. But after national outrage over the video, 17 police officers were arrested in February and face trial.
Adapted from original by Al Jazeera
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