Security forces in Nigeria have killed more people than Covid-19 since the West African nation imposed a lockdown in parts of the country to deal with the pandemic, the National Human Rights Commission has found.

BBC understands that 12 people have died from Covid-19, while 18 have been killed by police trying to enforce lockdowns and other measures, the Nigerian rights group said.

Its report said it had so far received and documented more than 100 complaints in 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states including Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, where a two-week lockdown was recently extended.

Other parts of the country have set a variety of restrictions which have seen the police and army called out to enforce them.

NHRC said members of the public had called their special hotline and sent in videos showing the violations of human rights.

Nigeria, which has a population of about 200 million people, has reported 407 cases of coronavirus.

Source: Maravi Post