CAMPAIGNERS called for a suspension and review of all British military and police training in Nigeria today, following revelations that its forces have been linked to violence against protesters.

Britain provides training and communications equipment to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit which has been linked to extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention and other abuses, it was confirmed by the government on Thursday.

At least 10,000 people have died in military detention in Nigeria over the last decade, according to a recent Amnesty International report.

And Britain provided dozens of military training courses for Nigerian forces in 2019 and 2020, a parliamentary answer revealed this year.

In 2017 there were 350 British military personnel in Nigeria for military training purposes, with over 6,000 Nigerian troops being trained. 

Britain has also licensed £43 million worth of arms since 2015, and Nigerian forces have been regular attendees of British arms fairs.

Campaign Against Arms Trade’s (CAAT) Andrew Smith said today: “The brutal crackdown that we have seen inflicted on anti-SARS protesters is appalling and must be condemned in the strongest terms.

“The SARS unit is not fit for purpose, and UK forces should not have been working with it or doing anything that could strengthen it.”

CAAT is calling for an immediate suspension to all police and military training provided by British personnel, and a full and urgent investigation to ascertain if any of the forces or individuals trained by British forces have been implicated in the “terrible” violence.