Thank you for contacting me regarding the important issue of Nigerian police brutality. Please accept my sincere apology in delay to responding to your email.

I have been saddened by news that 12 people were killed and hundreds severely injured in Alausa and Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos, on Tuesday 20 October.

Amnesty International report that the Nigerian Army, and police, opened fire, without warning, on demonstrations calling for an end to police brutality and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). They further report that at least 56 people have died across the country since the #EndSars protest began on 8 October 2020. It is alleged that in many cases the security forces had used excessive force in an attempt to control or stop the protests.

As early as 2014 Amnesty International has argued that torture and other ill-treatment is widespread and routine in military and police custody across Nigeria. Their June 2020 report shows that SARS continue to commit human rights violations with seemed impunity despite promises of reform and accountability by the Federal Government.

: https://twitter.com/KateOsamor/status/1319294694417838081/photo/1

Many constituents have contacted me concerned about the action of Nigerian Police

That is why, on 22 October, along with 59 other MPs & Peers, I wrote to Dominic Raab MP, the Foreign Secretary asking that he calls on President Buhari and his security forces to stop killing protesters and condemn the violence.

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57614

I also signed a parliamentary motion (#EDM 1050) which condemns the reported deliberate shooting of unarmed protesters in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria and calls on the Nigerian Government to demonstrate their commitment to human rights.

I support Amnesty International’s call for an investigation into the killings, and commend the work of Amnesty International, the (Nigerian) Feminist Coalition, and Diasporas Against SARs in campaigning against the ongoing violence.

I believe strongly in upholding fundamental human rights, as laid out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and will do everything I can to raise this issue in Parliament and beyond.

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