Nigerans Have Killed Over 150 Biafran Separatists

Amnesty International accused Nigerian security forces on Thursday of killing at least 150 peaceful advocates of Biafra's secession from Africa's most populous nation, but the military and police dismissed the allegations.

An army spokesman said Amnesty's statement, the latest in a series of allegations of impropriety levelled against Nigeria's military in the last year, aimed to tarnish the security forces' reputation.
Amnesty said the military fired live ammunition, with little or no warning, to disperse members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group between August 2015 and August 2016.

A 60-page report interviewing 193 people, 87 videos and 122 photographs from that period also said troops and the police used "arbitrary, abusive and excessive force to disrupt gatherings".
IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was detained on charges of criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society prompting supporters of Kanu to hold protests that Amnesty said were dispersed with live ammunition.

Nigeria Police Force spokesman Don Awunah said officers "always abide by the law" and adhere to best practices. "We don't attack people who are demonstrating, which every Nigerian has a right to do," he said.
Amnesty reports that some protesters had thrown stones, burned tyres and, in one incident, shot at the police but added that "these acts of violence did not justify the level of force used against the whole assembly".
"This reckless and trigger-happy approach to crowd control has caused at least 150 deaths," said Makmid Kamara, interim director of Amnesty International Nigeria, who called on authorities to launch an investigation into the matter.
Army spokesman Sani Usman said Biafra separatists had behaved violently, killing five policeman at a protest in May and attacking both military and police vehicles.