Nigerian army posts Trump video to justify shooting Shia protesters
In a speech on Thursday US President Donald Trump said that rocks thrown by migrants on the US–Mexico border should be considered as firearms. On Friday, the Nigerian army cited a video of the speech to justify shooting protesters that a human rights group said were unarmed.
Mr Trump made the comments in his speech on immigration, as thousands of troops were deployed to the southern border. Much of the speech focused on the migrant caravan that has been a major part of his campaign in the run-up to the midterm elections.
“We’re not going to put up with that. If they want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back,” he said. “We’re going to consider — and I told them, consider it a rifle.”
On Friday, the Nigerian army official Twitter account tweeted a video of the comments, along with the words “please watch and make your deductions.”
"When they throw rocks... consider it as a rifle," Mr Trump says in the clip.
Amnesty International has criticised Nigeria's army for the killings, saying the protesters were peaceful.
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But a spokesman for the Nigerian army says their decision to fire live rounds at protesters in Abuja was justified because they were armed, telling the BBC "this is what [Mr] Trump was talking about".
The army's official Twitter account posted the video adding the caption "please watch and make your deductions".
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