Amnesty International has called on security agencies in Nigeria and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra to ensure peace prevails when parents of leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, are laid to rest in their hometown, Afara Ukwu, Abia State, on Friday.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the funeral, there have been reported presence of large numbers of military personnel in Afara Ukwu with soldiers said to be patrolling the area and harassing residents.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Wednesday, Osai Ojigho, Country Director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, called on the military and members of IPOB to ensure there is no case of violence during the funeral of Kanu\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n
Ojigho said, \u201cThe Nigerian security forces must exercise restraint and prevent a repetition of the September 2017 events that left at least 20 people killed and some still missing when the military attempted to arrest Nnamdi Kanu in his home in Afara Ukwu.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile law enforcement officers are within their rights to carry out their lawful duties, the use of force should be proportional and strictly limited to those situations where it is absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth IPOB supporters and security forces must at all times respect and protect human rights of all.<\/p>\n
\u201cConcerns about possible violence during the funeral must be addressed within the framework of human rights and rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a broadcast last weekend on Radio Biafra, Kanu, who has been on the run since 2017 when soldiers invaded his father\u2019s compound in Abia State after he was charged for treason by the Nigerian Government, said that he would monitor events from abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amnesty International has called on security agencies in Nigeria and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra to ensure peace prevails when parents of leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, are laid to rest in their hometown, Afara Ukwu, Abia State, on Friday. Ahead of the funeral, there have been reported presence of large numbers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":14301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[550,199,625],"class_list":["post-21235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-biafra","tag-ipob","tag-nnamdi-kanu"],"yoast_head":"\n