Peaceful Assembly
On the 30 May, a march arranged by the Movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra in the southeast of Nigeria was severely repressed by police, leading to the deaths of at least 17 people according to Amnesty International. Although the police claimed they acted in self-defence, there was no evidence of this and those shot appear to have been unarmed people on the streets of Onitsha who were about to take part in peaceful, pro-Biafran commemoration events. Recent protests in other parts of the country were largely peaceful. On 3 May, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Nigeria convened 13 civil society organisations (CSOs) and their supporters to protest against a recent massacre carried out by armed Fulani herdsmen in Enugu State. Elsewhere, a large number of CSOs also held a large march to express their support removal of fuel subsidies. Simultaneously, CSOs in Edo State protested the recent increase in the pump price of petrol. The media widely covered all protests and the reporting has been largely unbiased.