Human rights group, the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) has claimed that the military operation in Obigbo, Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State and the EndSARS protest in the South East claimed the lives of 110 persons while 200 suffered various degrees of injury.
The Human Rights Group said that in Obigbo alone, 50 persons died while 80 were injured.
In a report released on Friday, Intersociety said the EndSARS protests were turned into a shooting spree in Rivers and Southeast states.
The full report reads:
The Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law can circumstantially, verifiably and statistically state that the EndSARS protests in the Igbo States of Rivers (largely Igbo), Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia and Imo were turned into shooting and killing spree by soldiers of the Nigerian Army and personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, leading to close range shooting to death of at least 110 unarmed citizens and terminal injuring of at least 200 others.
These, including Governor Nyesom Wike-aided Army massacre in Obigbo and environs, generally took place in 14 days or from 21st Oct to 4th November 2020. The killings were so glaring that the corpses of the slain littered inside the bushes and by the roadsides; with some buried shallowly or left to decompose and others picked up by their relatives or emergency officials of some of the affected States especially Rivers and Enugu States. There are also independent reports of scores of bodies of the slain buried atrociously by soldiers in shallow graves including melting them with acid substances. Such was the case in Aba in Feb 2016 and Sept 2017 and Onitsha and Nkpor in May 2016.
While most of the shootings, killings and injuries had occurred between 21st and 24th Oct 2020; a period of three days, in Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia States, those of Obigbo and environs in Rivers State took place between 21st Oct when the Gov Nyesom Wike imposed curfew in Oyigbo Local Government Area, targeting Obigbo and environs and 4th Nov, a period of 14 days, when the curfew supposedly elapsed and the massacre forced to subside following public outcries. Since then, Gov Wike has been running from pillar to pole defending himself, saying he ‘did not invite soldiers to kill Obigbo residents”.
We also wish to state clearly that the 50 death figures and 80 gunshot injuries in Obigbo and environs are most likely to be very conservative. This is going by the fact that pieces of credible information are still filtering in and what we have given here is the general evaluation of what happened. The projected 50 deaths and 80 injuries were temporarily arrived at based on credible information gathered from some of the survivors, who also told us that “they saw soldiers driving away dozens of blindfolded residents of their area (Obigbo and environs) with their hands tied behind their back and taken away half naked in batches of military vehicles”. Intersociety is presently carrying out extensive investigation into the massacre especially with regard to ascertaining the final figure of the dead, the tortured, the sexually harassed including the raped; the burnt, the destroyed, the looted, the arrested and incarcerated and the permanently disappeared.
The number of those blindfolded and made half naked who were independently seen being taking away is estimated at over 200. Our contacts who independently verified from police authorities said police told them that none of them arrested and taken away by soldiers since 21st Oct has been handed over to the Rivers State Police Command as at 4th Nov 2020. This raises serious suspicion of secret killing of scores of them by soldiers and possible decimation of their bodies with acid substances for purpose of erasing traces. We also seriously suspect that those arrested since two weeks and possibly held illegally in secret Arm
We also seriously suspect that those arrested since two weeks and possibly held illegally in secret Army custodies are most likely to be undergoing outlawed and agonizing detention practices.
Therefore, as statistics conscious rights group, Intersociety has refused to speak categorically on Obigbo massacre until pieces of reliable statistics or information are gathered. That is to say that this position of ours on the number of the slain and the maimed arising from the massacre is not final, but a credible attempt to present the thirsty global community with a general statistical idea of what the ethno-religiously lopsided Nigerian Army did to Christian citizens of old Eastern Nigeria in Obigbo and environs, in full conspiracy of Gov Nyesom Wike.
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