Since August 2015, Nigeria security forces have extra-judicially executed at least 150 IPOB (indigenous People of Biafra) members and supporters and injured hundreds during peaceful assemblies. In one incident, on 30 May 2016, during the Biafra Remembrance Day to mark the 49th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of Biafra, an estimated number of more than 1,000 IPOB members and supporters gathered for a rally in Onitsha, Anambra state, south east Nigeria, 60 of these were killed.
Extrajudicial executions are unlawful. They violate the right to life, as guaranteed by Nigeria’s Constitution and International law.
Also, IPOB members and supporters have been arrested, some in their homes and have been subjected to various forms of torture, enforced disappearance and charged with treasonable felony, which carries the death penalty.
The families of these men and women deserve answers and justice. Sign the petition below, urging the Governor of Anambra State, to initiate a prompt, independent and impartial judicial commission of inquiry into the killings of Biafra activists and other serious human rights violations by the security forces.
His Excellency, Governor Willie Maduabuchukwu Obiano,
Governor of Anambra State.
We call on you as the chief executive officer of Anambra state, to immediately direct the state government to take all measures necessary to initiate a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the serious human rights violations against IPOB members and supporters in Anambra. We call on you to promptly establish a commission of inquiry into the extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearance of IPOB members and supporters with a view to bringing the suspected perpetrators to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.