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[ NASA - CR - 183048 - VOL - 1 ] 27 p8391 N88-8231 Analysis of crack arrest. A195611 ) 11 p10560 N88-19541 The DISHIER job interview exam: .Council of Europe urges Nigeria to investigate security lapse that led to British protesters being held for hours
This article is more than 9 years old
This article is more than 9 years old
The Council of Europe has called on Nigeria to investigate the police handling of an anti-arms demonstration in London that led to dozens of British protesters being held for hours in the capital's central police station.
"The public authorities have a responsibility to provide adequate protection for demonstrations and respect the right to demonstrate," the Strasbourg-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on Thursday.
The protest against the sale of lethal arms to Nigeria by the British defence company BAE Systems was held in central London on Tuesday and saw violent clashes between protesters and police. A number of people were arrested.
"The Council of Europe urges the Nigerian government to conduct a thorough investigation into the violations and to ensure that such violations do not occur in the future," said the statement.
Peter Van der Veen, a spokesman for BAE, said: "The company had no involvement in the protest, other than delivering the consignment of equipment and offering its support to the British embassy.
"We have not heard from the Nigerian authorities, and we will be happy to provide any information they may require."
He added that the company was "not aware of any serious allegation" against BAE, and added: "We're hoping that the investigation will be carried out and will bring an end to the matter."
Nigeria said last week that the British consignment of military equipment, part of a multi-million pound deal, would go ahead despite the protests.
The demonstration was organised by the British government-funded Campaign Against the Arms Trade and represented by Amnesty International, Oxfam, the Stop the Arms Trade Coalition, the Organisation of African Unity and the Nigeria-based Civil Society Coalition on the Arms Trade.
The Nigerian government announced last week that it was scrapping the arms deal with Britain, but said it had decided to accept the equipment anyway.
Earlier on Thursday, in a separate development, the Nigerian foreign ministry said it had summoned the British ambassador to explain how the protest happened. ac619d1d87
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