Amid birthday congratulatory messages singing the praises of former President Muhammadu Buhari, rights organisation Amnesty International has released a catalogue of catastrophes wrought by the then-president regime that ruled Nigeria between 2015 and 2023.
As Mr Buhari celebrated his 81st birthday on Sunday, the rights organisation posted on X several atrocities committed under the watch of the so-called dictator-turned-democrat.
In a thread of tweets on Sunday, Amnesty International listed the extrajudicial killing of 150 peaceful pro-Biafra protesters, the massacre of 350 Shiite Muslims in Zaria, and the brutal killing of #EndSARS protesters, amongst other gross human rights violations perpetrated by Mr Buhari’s regime.
The X post was titled ‘Gross Human Rights Violations Under Buhari Administration’ and listed the violations to include the “mass slaughter of over 350 men, women and children by the Nigerian military in Zaria between 12–14 December 2015.
The X post also highlighted that the Nigerian security forces “carried out a chilling campaign of extrajudicial executions and violence, resulting in the deaths of at least 150 peaceful pro-Biafra protesters between August 2015 and August 2016.”
The human rights defender also mentioned the “peaceful #EndSARS protests seeking an end to the atrocities of SARS — a callous unit of the Nigeria Police, was met with violent crackdown, while 56 people were killed nationwide,” noting that “at least, 12 protesters were killed at #LekkiTollGate and Alausa on 20 October 2020.”
“The Buhari administration’s failure to bring perpetrators to justice fuelled a bloody escalation in the conflict between farmers and herders across the country, resulting in at least 3,641 deaths in three years,” stated Amnesty International.
It pointed out that over 57 per cent of the 3,641 recorded deaths occurred in 2018.
The organisation also recalled the chilling gross violations meted out to female survivors of Boko Haram’s insurgency.
“Thousands of women and girls who survived the brutal rule of the Boko Haram armed group were further abused by the Nigerian security forces and CJTF who claim to be rescuing them,” said Amnesty International. “The women and girls were raped, sometimes in exchange for food.”
The organisation recalled how journalists were hounded and tortured, stating that “at least 19 journalists and media practitioners were attacked, arrested, tortured, harassed and threatened between January and September 2019.”
“At least three journalists had to go into hiding,” said Amnesty International.
The ex-president’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, did not immediately respond to Peoples Gazette’s request to comment on Mr Buhari’s bloody legacy highlighted by the rights group.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has described his predecessor as being from “the rarest phylum of virtuous servant-leaders,” devoting his “life to the service of the nation, even earning himself detention for his patriotism and service to our Fatherland.”
“The emergence of leaders like my good friend, Buhari, happens only by divine orchestration. He is a man of absolute and undiluted integrity. His yea is yea, and his nay is nay,” Mr Tinubu claimed.
Ahmad Lawan, former Senate president and party man loyal to Mr Buhari, avowed that he was “committed to tackling corruption, improving the economy, and enhancing security for all Nigerians.”