The Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA Global Resource Initiative) and a coalition of other human rights/anti-corruption bodies have made an urgent appeal to President Bola Tinubu to stop the deportation order of Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Wanis, an Egyptian detained in Nigeria.

In a petition to the President signed by the Executive Director of HURMA, Buna Olaitan Isiak, they pleaded with the president to use his esteemed office to preserve the freedom of Abdel-Wanis and halt his planned deportation to his country, which is currently under military rule.

“From general observations by all local and international communities, who have followed the arrest of the Egyptian, it is observed that the victim stands a high risk of potential torture in the hand of the military despot presently in charge in the Arab Republic of Egypt if forcibly deported.

“We are hereby calling on the Nigerian government to stop the forced deportation order.”

And to respect the Convention Against Torture, which it ratified in 2001,” the petition read.

In a separate letter by the AFD International Justice for Human Rights, the Justice for Human Rights Foundation (JHR Istanbul) – AFD Belgium, is demanding an urgent action to preserve the freedom of Abdel-Wanis.

“We have followed up on the Nigerian authorities’ arrest of Abdel-Wanis. As human rights organisations concerned with protecting and defending human rights, we stress the need for Ali Abdel-Wanis’s release and demand that he should not be deported to Egypt.

“We also demand that the Nigerian authorities immediately release him and prevent his forcible deportation to Egypt. To this end, we have written to the following international bodies – Mr. Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights – Geneva; Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Committee against Torture; and Special Rapporteur on Torture, urging them to intervene and take urgent action to save Ali Abdel-Wanis from the risk of torture if he is deported to Egypt.

“We are writing to you to save an Egyptian citizen who is threatened with forced deportation from Nigeria, where he will face imprisonment and torture.”