Nigeria is my country of birth, and I have seen footage of the massacre of innocent citizens by the Nigerian military aided by Nigeria’s political leadership.

My heart breaks for the people of Nigeria as they demand justice and freedom from police brutality and extra-judicial killing in their quest for good governance.

I have watched with horror as soldiers armed with live ammunitions fire on innocent Nigerians, from all backgrounds, rightfully calling upon their government to deliver immediate and meaningful reforms to policing.

The senseless killing of Nigerians must end now. It is a shame that the Nigerian government and its military continues to abuse the well known mandate of the military.

I urge the government to put down their guns and listen to the people of Nigeria. Their demands are just, yet people have been killed for asking their government to protect them from a brutal, barbaric and out-of-touch police institution.

Families are scared, and Nigeria’s social contract, if any, risks descending into utter chaos. A just world cannot tolerate citizens being murdered by the state as they wave their own country’s flag. The people of Nigeria must be heard.

I urge the international community and leaders of the free world to put significant pressure on the government in Abuja to end this massacre now, and to pursue immediate and meaningful police and governance reform.