The International Criminal Court, ICC has revealed that it will “analyse materials” it has gotten about the violence which hit Nigeria last month following #EndSARS protests against police brutality. It said that it was conducting a preliminary investigation into the protests. In a statement, the office of the ICC prosecutor had earlier said it had received information on alleged crimes. Youths under the #EndSARS had taken to the streets to protest against police brutality, calling for the disbandment of the unit. The unit was subsequently disbanded and a replacement announced by the police authorities. This however did not suppress the protests as the youths insisted that the action must go further than disbandment of the unit, thereby the protests continued. The protest became violent ridden.
Rights group, Amnesty International said security forces opened fire on protesters at the Lekki toll gate, killing at least 10 people there.
The Nigerian Army through its 81 Division noted that soldiers were deployed at the instance of the state government but denied shooting protesters. Both the police and army have rejected Amnesty’s allegation.
According to BBC, the examination will “assess whether the legal criteria for opening an investigation under the Rome Statute are met”.
The ICC said it would make findings of the preliminary examination public.
