ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian Army soldiers opened fire and killed nine women protesting the army's handling of communal clashes in the northeastern Adamawa state, witnesses and Amnesty International told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The women were protesting on Monday along a major road in Adamawa's local government Lamurde when the soldiers shot at them after being blocked from passing, witnesses and victims' relatives told the AP in details first reported on Tuesday. Ten others were injured in the shooting, witnesses said.
The Nigerian Army in a statement denied killing anyone and blamed the deaths on a local militia it said opened fire in the area.
Amnesty International's Nigeria office said the agency confirmed soldiers killed the nine protesters, citing accounts from witnesses and families of victims.
“It shows that Nigerian military has not changed much because of its past record of human rights violations and disregard for rule of law,” according to Isa Sanusi, director of Amnesty International in Nigeria.
The Associated Press could not independently verify what happened.
Such killings are common across Nigeria where soldiers often deployed in response to protests and clashes are usually accused of excessive use of force. Protests against police brutality in Nigeria’s economic hub of Lagos in 2020 ended up in what a government-commissioned inquiry described as a massacre after soldiers opened fire at the protest venue.
The latest incident happened amid a curfew that authorities imposed in Lamurde following frequent clashes between Adamawa's Bachama and Chobo ethnic groups over a prolonged land dispute.
The protesters were aggrieved that security forces, including the soldiers, were not enforcing the curfew in affected areas, thereby allowing the clashes to continue, according to Lawson Ignatius, the councilor representing Lamurde in the local government parliament.
Gyele Kennedy, who said his daughter was among the protesters shot dead, lamented in anguish that “we don’t know what came over them.”
“These soldiers were leaving where the conflict happened and they came to pass through this place. They came and met the women protesting when one of the soldiers shot his gun in the air. After that, they opened fire on the women,” said Kennedy.
The Nigerian Army, however, denied the claims, saying its soldiers only engaged a local militia in a different part of the town.
“Without equivocation, the casualties were caused by the unprofessional handling of automatic weapons by the local militias who are not proficiently trained to handle such automatic weapons,” an army spokesman said.
The reported killings come as the Nigerian military is under scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has alleged that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria's security crises and that the security forces are not doing enough to prevent the killings. Residents have told the AP that both Christians and Muslims are affected in the widespread violence plaguing Nigerian villages.
Amnesty International's Nigeria office called for the reported killings to be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable.
People help an injured woman that was caught in an army crossfire after a communal clash in Lamurde, northeastern Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo)
After leaving Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.
With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition's best-performing teams.
It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot's under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.
Liverpool's players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate's header in the 31st minute but, after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had earlier nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.
Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors' aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.
Bayern's 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Chelsea was beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equalizer and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea, which went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with its second loss.
It was a fourth win for Atalanta, which climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.
Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.
The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.
Son Heung-min said a belated goodbye to Tottenham as his former club moved up to ninth after beating Slavia Prague 3-0 on an own goal and two penalties in a game overshadowed by a dispute over moving a rainbow flag showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Julián Alvarez scored for the ninth time in his last nine league-phase appearances to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at PSV Eindhoven.
Marseille held on for a 3-2 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, whose players and fans twice celebrated what they thought were goals to level the score late on, only for both to be ruled out for narrow offsides on video review.
Folarin Balogun bundled the ball over the line from close range to give Monaco a 1-0 win over Galatasaray.
Olympiakos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Barcelona's Jules Kounde left, celebrates with Alejandro Balde after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Atalanta players celebrate at the the end of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Atalanta and Chelsea, in Bergamo, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates after scoring his side's first goal from a penalty shot during a Champions League, league phase, soccer match between Inter Milan and Liverpool in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec.9, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Olympiacos' players celebrates after scoring their side's first goal during the Champions League, opening phase soccer match between Kairat Almaty and Olympiacos in Astana, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, 2025. (AP Photo/Alikhan Sariyev)
Bayern's Lennart Karl celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Sporting CP in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Bayern's Lennart Karl, left, scores his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Sporting CP in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Chelsea's Andrey Santos during a training session at Cobham Training Ground, London, Monday Dec. 8, 2025 ahead of Tuesday's Champions League soccer match against Atalanta. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany attends a training session in Munich, Germany, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, ahead of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and Sporting Lisbon. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah smiles as he takes part in a training session in Liverpool, England, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
