Amnesty’s new report, Nigeria: No Justice for the Dead  (PDF) illustrates the gaps in the investigation of deaths following police action in Rivers State where basic techniques of crime scene protection and investigation are not applied and autopsies and inquests are either not carried out or are inadequate. 

 

Amnesty believes that the poor practices in Rivers State may be replicated in other Nigerian states where violent deaths at the hands of the police are not investigated adequately.   

 

Medical and legal sources revealed that there is a practice of doctors signing death investigation reports without examining the body properly. 

 

In many cases the identity of the deceased is not known to the police and bodies are registered as “unknown”. Little effort is made by police to identify them. Relatives are often left with no answers about the fate of their family members. 

 

The lack of investigation in Nigeria contributes to the widespread impunity enjoyed by police officers who appear to have used unlawful lethal force, seriously undermining human rights. 

 

Amnesty International Deputy Director for Africa Lucy Freeman said:

 

“To have one of your friends or family members killed by the authorities causes terrible anguish, but never to find out the truth of what actually happened to them causes a particular agony for relatives of the victims.

 

“Effective and impartial investigations are crucial in determining the truth about human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, and gathering evidence to hold the perpetrators to account.” 

 

Amnesty found that in most cases of killings at the hands of the police, there was almost no action to hold the police to account. 

 

Pastor Ken Neele told Amnesty that after learning of the shooting of his brother following police action in November 2011, he went to several hospitals in search of his body, which he finally traced to Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital in Port Harcourt - the capital of Rivers State. 

 

Pastor Neele was distressed by the disrespectful handling of his brother’s body, which was lying at the bottom of a pile of other bodies. More than a year later, Pastor Neele has still not been able to bury his brother - police have yet to approve the body’s release. 

 

Other families told Amnesty of their distress at seeing the way in which their relatives were "dumped" in the mortuary. 

 

When an Amnesty researcher visited Braithwaite they found the mortuary overcrowded, with bodies dumped in piles on the veranda or on benches. 

 

While this mortuary has now closed down, reports from a number of sources suggest that many others in Nigeria may operate similar practices. 

 

Lucy Freeman added: 

 

“It is a sad truth that in Nigeria the victims of police brutality and their families rarely receive justice. 

 

“In spite of the existence of domestic law and international standards requiring the investigation of such deaths, the lack of proper autopsies and inquests mean the perpetrators of these crimes are simply getting away with it.”   

 

Amnesty is calling on the Federal and State Governments of Nigeria to investigate all violent deaths in Nigeria, to ensure adequate autopsies are carried out by qualified personnel, and to hold those guilty of unlawful killings to account.

 

Download Nigeria: No Justice for the Dead (PDF)