Nigeria killings caught on video

Nigerian police and military units carried out extra-judicial killings last year in the aftermath of clashes with members of a Muslim group in the north of the country, footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to confirm.

An estimated 1,000 people were killed as Nigerian government forces fought Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe, Kano and Bauchi states in July and August of 2009.

But the footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows that many of the deaths occurred only after the fighting was over.

Elements of the security forces staged a follow-up operation in which house-to-house searches were conducted and individuals were apparently selected at random and taken to a police station.

‘Shoot him in the chest’

In the video, a number of unarmed men are seen being made to lie down in the road outside a building before they are shot.

As one man is brought out to face death, one of the officers can be heard urging his colleague to “shoot him in the chest not the head–I want his hat”.

As the executions continue another man is told: “Sit properly we want to take your picture.”

The shootings continue as a crowd gathers further up the street in front of the police station.

Voices can be heard saying: “No mercy, no mercy.”

Two officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests.

[Editor’s Note: This video may not be appropriate for some viewers. You will have to create a YouTube account to view it.]