In the early hours of Sunday morning, gunmen had stormed the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State killing scores of people and injuring many others.

The situation has thrown the whole into mourning with President Muhammadu Buhari, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, among others condemning the attack.

Reacting, Media Manager of Amnesty International, Isa Sanusi, called on the authorities to unravel the killers of the worshippers.

“What happened in Owo reveals the impunity enjoyed by gunmen on the rampage across Nigeria. This tragic event should offer a wake-up call for the authorities, who must now do everything they can to ensure the perpetrators of this appalling crime face justice,” the statement read.

“This brutal attack shows a complete disregard for the right to life. Under international human rights law, the Nigerian authorities have a duty to protect the right to life of its people in all circumstances.

“Victims and their families have a right to know the truth about this shooting and to be provided with justice and reparations. Amnesty International is calling on the Nigerian judicial authorities to immediately launch a thorough and impartial investigation to identify the perpetrators of this crime, and to prosecute and judge them in fair trials, without recourse to the death penalty.”

The 309-page report stated, “The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags and while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a massacre in context.”

While indicting the soldiers and the police, the panel stated that it unravelled the fact that after the personnel of the Nigerian Army exited the scene, the Nigeria Police Force followed up with the killing of the protesters, shooting directly at those fleeing, who ran into shanties and the lagoon.

It recommended that all army officers, excluding Major General Omata, and men of the Nigerian Army deployed in the Lekki tollgate should be made to face appropriate disciplinary action, stripped of their ranks and dismissed as they were not fit and proper to serve in any public or security service of the nation.

Already, the United States, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and Amnesty International have called on the Nigerian government to ensure that the panel’s report is handled transparently even as the military and the Federal Government await the release of the White Paper.

The Nigerian military and its current use of arms are subject to the Leahy vetting, an American rights law that prohibits the United States government from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity.

An arms embargo had earlier been placed on Nigeria, which prevented the country from effectively pursuing the war against terror during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

However, during the administration of former American President, Donald Trump, the embargo was lifted and the US began selling arms to Nigeria, including 12 Super Tucano aircraft.

The US, however, warned that the arms and the soldiers being trained would be subject to Leahy vetting, meaning that military assistance could be discontinued.

Earlier in the year, Reuters had reported that the United States Congress had initiated plans to impose an arms embargo on Nigeria.

In an email chat with The PUNCH on Wednesday, the Deputy Director for Advocacy and Government Relations for Amnesty International USA, Mr Adotei Akwei, said he had written to the US Congress to implement the Leahy laws against Nigeria.

Akwei welcomed the report of the panel, adding that it confirmed what Amnesty had always been saying about the #EndSARS protests.

He said, “While we welcome this report, we are also painfully aware that other investigations into abuses by the Nigerian security forces have also confirmed abuses, called for reform and accountability and have resulted in no action whatsoever. We will wait to see what the response is from the Buhari administration, but until then, we still call for robust implementation of the Leahy laws in regards to the Nigerian military.”

In an interview with The PUNCH, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Prof Bola Akinterinwa, said Nigeria could face not just an arms embargo, but sanctions.

Akinterinwa stated, “It goes beyond an embargo. There are many ways foreign countries respond to situations like this. If you use the US as an example, I can assure you that all those suspected government officials will be sanctioned in different ways, either by visa bans, withdrawal of privileges, or initiating a trial for them abroad. Some months ago, some US congressmen said they should not supply the Tucano ordered by Nigeria and they should stop selling arms to Nigeria. In this kind of situation, the likelihood of further sale of arms to Nigeria is remote. They are currently considering that.”

A retired Nigerian diplomat, Ambassador Joe Keshi, who served in the US, Togo, Ethiopia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Namibia and Sierra Leone, said indeed, Nigeria risked another arms embargo with the damning report on the killing of the #EndSARS protesters.

Keshi stated that the Nigerian police needed urgent reforms, including learning how to handle protesters.

He said the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, goofed by calling on Nigerians not to disparage the military when he could have just promised to investigate the issues raised in the report.

The retired diplomat said the Federal Government should admit that mistakes were made and apologise rather than attempting to pick holes in the panel’s report.

“That is true (arms embargo). And that is why it is so sad the way the authorities are reacting to this report. There should be a simple admission that a mistake was made,” Keshi said.

On Monday, the panel submitted its report to the state government, confirming that protesters who were shot at the Lekki tollgate were killed and described the ordeal as a “massacre”.

The panel listed 48 victims of the shooting while recommending that police officers and soldiers who were deployed in the scene be punished. It was also stated in the report that security operatives who were at the scene, prevented ambulances from reaching injured demonstrators.

Osai Ojigho, director of AI, Nigeria, in a statement by Isa Sanusi, the organisation spokesperson, said President Muhammadu Buhari must ensure that those who were responsible for the shooting face justice.

The statement reads  “Amnesty International welcomes the panel’s report, which confirms that the Nigerian army and police shot peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020. The panel’s findings reveal the truth about what happened at Lekki toll gate and contradict the shameful denial by the Nigerian government that deadly force was used against peaceful #EndSARS protesters. A day after the crackdown, Amnesty International conducted its own on-the-ground investigation which confirmed that the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 peaceful protesters in Lekki and Alausa – with evidence gathered from eyewitnesses, video footage and hospital reports.  A week later Amnesty International was able to release a timeline of the shootings, which confirmed that Nigerian army vehicles left a military base a short drive from the toll gate on the evening of the shootings and were present when the killings began shortly after. For the survivors and relatives of the dead, the judicial panel report findings are only the first step towards justice and restitution. President Buhari must act promptly to ensure that those found to be responsible for shooting and attacks on peaceful protesters are brought to justice in a fair trial. Nigerian authorities must ensure access to justice and effective remedies, including adequate compensation, restitution, and guarantee of non-repetition to victims and their families. Authorities must also immediately and unconditionally release all #EndSARS protesters unlawfully detained since last year.”

This reaction follows the abduction of 317 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

This attack comes in less than two weeks after gunmen kidnapped dozens of students and workers of Government Science College in Kagara, Rafi Local Government of Niger State, and are yet to be released.

Amnesty International via a series of tweets on Friday, lamented that attacks on schools and abductions of girls are war crimes and it undermines the right to education.

The tweets read: “The abduction of girls at Government Secondary School, Jangebe is a serious violation of international humanitarian law, and it undermines the right to education for thousands of children in northern Nigeria.

“The girls abducted are in serious risk of being harmed. Nigerian authorities must take all measures to return them to safety, along with all children currently under the custody of armed groups.

“Education is under attack in northern Nigeria. Schools should be places of safety, and no child should have to choose between their education and their life. Other children have had to abandon their education after being displaced by frequent violent attacks on their communities.”

Amnesty International were accused of deliberately supporting the acts of terrorism perpetrated against Nigeria by the Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African State (ISWAP) terror groups.

In a statement released by the Defence Headquarters’ Acting Director Defence Information Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the non-governmental organization were accused of undermining Nigeria’s Military campaign against terrorism in the North East.

The statement reads “The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has taken cognizance of yet another falsified report by Amnesty International (AI) in a campaign of calumny targeting the Nigerian Military and deliberately supporting the callous acts of terrorism perpetuated by Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) and Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP). This inglorious campaign is contained in a recent report alleging employment of unlawful tactics of razing down villages and unlawful detention of locals by troops. This is line with the AIs usual mannerism and tenacious efforts aimed at disparaging the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN). The Defence Headquarters wishes to state unambiguously that the allegations being touted by AI are nothing but a betrayal of its lack of in-depth knowledge of the goings-on in the North East (NE) theatre of operation. It is expedient to state that troops of Operation Lafiya Dole who are conducting Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Operations in the NE do not employ arson as an operational tactic. It is a well-known fact, going by the modus operandi of BHTs, that they have more often than not engaged in the atrocious acts of looting and burning of villages, as well as destroying infrastructures. It therefore, beats ones imagination that AI is attributing these atrocities to AFN troops who are legitimately defending the country guided by extant rules of engagement and operational codes of conduct. AI must understand the fact that Nigeria is at war against terrorism in the NE and that the troops have a constitutional mandate to protect lives and property, even if it means conducting an evacuation to save and secure lives of civilians in the conflict. Protecting civilians by evacuating them from the line of fire during combat is not a violation of the international law of conflict or a war crime. It is rather a commendable effort by the troops to prevent collateral damage during combat. Our troops should therefore be commended for making deliberate efforts to evacuate civilians in order to protect their lives and property. It is also crucial to point out, that troops deployed to fight terrorism in the NE do not attack or raze down villages, communities or settlements, rather they launch offensive on terrorists’ camps, enclaves and hide outs. Based on actionable intelligence, persons who provide logistics and other forms of support to the terrorists are arrested and subjected to thorough investigation by a combined team of professionals drawn from the intelligence community of the Armed Forces and other security agencies. Anyone not found culpable is not held in custody for further investigations. AI must therefore put an end to its reckless distortion of facts in its desperate bid to satisfy its puppeteers by undermining Nigeria’s Military campaign against terrorism in the NE. We urge members of the public to please discountenance AIs report, as it is not a true and realistic reflection of troops’ counter terrorism operation in the NE”

The human rights agency raised an alarm over an alleged disturbing pattern, in which authorities respond to allegations of sexual abuse.

It also recounted past incidents, in which victims of rape were reportedly subjected to arrest and intimidation by the Nigerian police.

They tweeted these;

Security and safety of Timi & Busola Dakolo rest with Nigerian authorities. Intimidating victims of sexual abuse using @ PoliceNG is a new low in Nigeria’s spate of impunity.

Intimidating victims of sexual abuse using @ PoliceNG is a new low in Nigeria’s spate of impunity. In Feb. armed SARS officers arrested Maryam Awaisu of

#ArewaMeToo in Kaduna and dragged her to Abuja, at the instance of a person widely accused of rape & sexual abuse.

For too long, Nigeria’s women have been facing various kinds of sexual violence that seldom receives proper attention from the country’s law enforcement agencies. It is unacceptable that women seeking justice end up intimidated by Nigeria Police@PoliceNG

It is unacceptable that women seeking justice for sexual abuse are subjected to arrest and intimidation, by a unit of police whose remit is armed robbery. We fear that these actions may prevent victims of sexual violence from pursuing justice.

In the face of rising sexual abuse of women & girls across #Nigeria; for how long will women be continuously subjected to intimidation and forced silence in the face of injustice? When will the injustice end?

This pattern of Nigeria Police @ PoliceNG dispatching anti-robbery squads to pick up victims of sexual abuse who refused to be silent is unacceptable.

In a Facebook post , AI said, “ Senator Elisha Abbo (Adamawa North) who took three ladies shopping for sex toys in Abuja , assaulted a nursing mother , in the presence of policemen. This must be investigated . The lawmaker must face justice . The victims must be protected from his promise of more violence .”