Amnesty International says the police have killed at least 10 persons since protesters took to the streets last Thursday to protest against police brutality and extra-judicial killings.
The human rights watchdog revealed this via Twitter.
“So far, Nigerian Police have killed at least 10 people since the start of protests against callous operations of SARS,” it tweeted.
Jimoh Isiaq, a protester, was shot dead by the police in Ogbomosho, Oyo state, on Saturday.
Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International’s office in Nigeria, said the human rights organization found a trend of young people being profiled and targeted by SARS officers in an interview with Voice of America.
Amnesty has recorded cases of extortion and torture, and failure by the Nigerian authorities to bring perpetrators to justice.
“To end the impunity of SARS, you need to overhaul the entire unit. And that’s why the dissolution or disbandment of SARS is a welcome development. But it needs to go deeper, as this is not the first time the government has actually banned SARS and banned them from doing the same practices which they continue, over and over again,” said Ojigho.
Amnesty is calling for independent and thorough investigations into these crimes and a timeline for actions with concrete steps.
Ojigho said there were links between the anti-SARS protests and the larger Black Lives Matter movement, with young people becoming more sensitized about state violence and the need for the state to protect, not oppress, people.
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