By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
As the shooting of unarmed innocent #EndSARS peaceful protesters by soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate on Tuesday night attracts the ire of international figures and bodies such as Mrs Hilary Clinton, the UN and the African Bar Association, a Lagos based human rights and advocacy group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has also decried and condemned the shooting by security agents.
The group warned that the shooting must stop immediately.
In a statement on Wednesday on the incident, SERAP said: “Under the Nigerian constitution, 1999 (as amended) and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party, the authorities are obligated to respect and protect the right to life and security of the person, the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly of everyone, including peaceful protesters.
“We call on the Nigeria authorities to order a prompt, independent and impartial inquiry into the reports of shooting of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate by security agents, identify suspected perpetrators and ensure that they are brought to justice without delay.
“All the victims must be allowed access to justice and effective remedies, including adequate compensation, satisfaction and guarantee of non-repetition.
“SERAP calls on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open investigations into cases of attacks on peaceful protesters in Nigeria in the context of #EndSARS.
“SERAP believes that substantial grounds exist to warrant the intervention of the Prosecutor in this case. Pursuant to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor has power to intervene in a situation under the jurisdiction of the Court if the Security Council or states parties refer a situation or if information is provided from other sources such as the information that is now publicly available in the country.”
