#EndSARS: We’ll stop military aid to Nigeria over rights abuse, Blinken warns

The United States has once again warned that it may stop rendering military assistance to Nigeria if the country fails to protect human rights, TopNaija reports.

The US Secretary of States, Antony Blinken, who gave the warning, also urged the federal and Lagos State governments to sanction any individuals found to have violated human rights during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests when the white paper on the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters is ready.

He warned that if the rights violations persisted, the US government might evoke the Leahy Law to deny Nigeria access to hardware, which includes arms and other military equipment to fight terrorism and other forms of criminalities.

An eight-man panel led by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi had submitted a 309-page report to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, indicting soldiers and police for killing peaceful protesters at Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020.

Describing the Lekki toll gate incident as a massacre, the panel report stated that at least nine persons were killed by security agents at the scene and listed 48 names as casualties, including 22 protesters, who sustained gunshot injuries and 15 others allegedly assaulted by soldiers and police.

During a meeting with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Thursday in Aso Rock, Abuja, Blinken had said America anticipated the response of the federal and Lagos State governments to the panel’s findings.

On Friday, Blinken met with members of the civil society in Abuja, reiterating the US’ demand for justice.

End SARS is a decentralised social movement, and series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria. The slogan calls for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuses.