Nigeria, June 2 -- A protest against insecurity. A crackdown by state-sponsored thugs. A police investigation that dismissed video evidence as "digitally manipulated".

For months, families of kidnapping victims in Nigeria's Kwara State waited for answers. When they approached the government through a peaceful protest, they were violently attacked. Despite footage clearly showing the attackers, the police later concluded that the videos had been manipulated and closed the case without any arrests. Some victims also reported receiving threats after the incident.

This investigation examined what happened that day. Drawing on multiple videos obtained exclusively by this newspaper, eyewitness accounts, digital verification techniques, and in...