ABUJA (AFP) –
Police in Nigeria routinely and illegally kill with impunity hundreds of suspects each year, global rights group Amnesty International said Wednesday.

"The Nigeria Police Force is responsible for hundreds of extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killings and enforced disappearances every year," the London-based Amnesty said.

"The majority of cases go uninvestigated and unpunished," it said in a damning report.

The report, based on research carried out between 2007 and 2009, is based on evidence given in interviews with relatives of people who were executed by the police or disappeared in police custody. Amnesty also interviewed lawyers, judges, justice and health officials and local rights organisations.

Unlawful killings and enforced disappearances in Nigeria "are not random", it said. "In a country where bribes guarantee safety, those who cannot afford to pay are at risk of being shot or tortured to death".

Nigeria ranks low on the international corruption perception index and it is notorious for its high crime rate, especially armed robbery.

"The police exploit public anger at the high crime rates in the country to justify their actions...They do not only shoot people, Amnesty International has recorded cases of suspects who were tortured to death while in detention," it said.

Amnesty said that disregard for human rights is "prevalent" in the police and enforced disappearances in Nigeria are "rife".

Many of those who go missing have been extrajudicially executed, it said.