Nigerian rights group denounces ‘attacks’ on Amnesty office
Protesters surround the Amnesty office in the Nigerian capital on Monday and Tuesday, demanding that the London-based rights group leave the country immediately.
A Nigerian rights group on Tuesday called for an investigation into “attacks” on the Amnesty International office in Abuja following heavy criticism by the country’s military.
Protesters had surrounded the Amnesty office in the Nigerian capital on Monday and Tuesday, demanding that the London-based rights group leave the country immediately.
The demonstration comes less than a month after the Nigerian military issued a press statement urging Amnesty to “desist from meddling into security issues in our country which is inimical to national interest, cohesion and unity.”
Military spokesman Rabe Abubakar in February had accused Amnesty of “taking sides with terrorists and other belligerent groups to cause internal disorder”.
In response to the protests, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a Nigerian non-profit group, said that Nigeria should investigate “apparently sponsored and coordinated attacks” against Amnesty.
“Any failure to hold to account those who may be responsible will invariably increase the vulnerability of civil society in the country,” said SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale.
“Nigeria is a democratic society and the government can’t just sit back and watch reprisals, threats and increasing hostility to Amnesty International in particular, and the NGO community in general.”
Last year Amnesty backed claims that the Nigerian military shot dead at least 150 peaceful pro-Biafran protesters.
It also accused the military of attempting to cover up the “mass slaughter” of more than 350 people in 2015 after violence broke out between soldiers and supporters of the Shiite Muslim Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in the northern city of Zaria.
The Nigerian army earlier this month committed to investigating human rights abuse allegations but said it did not have the jurisdiction to investigate the Shiite clashes.
Today the military still plays a major role in shaping policy in Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest oil producers that only became a democracy in 1999 following decades of military rule.
Current President Muhammadu Buhari is a former general and served as a military head of state in the early 1980s after seizing power in a coup.
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2 Comments
So the military should sit and watch amnesty destry our nation. It is simple, Amnesty should declare the source of their fundings openly so that we know where their interest lie. Is that too much to ask? SERAP should do the job they were created to do and stop looking for international funding.
the Nigerian Army has always and continuosly kills Nigerians even long before Amnesty International was ever created, and just because people like you refused to understand that our Army Soldiers do not have the right to kill our citizens, no matter the provocations, since the Army is not at war, and war has not been declared, these kilings are murders by defintion in law.
Government sponsored crowd.
Nigeria currently has the most intolerant regime in Africa. They know that they cannot ask Amnesty to leave, so they rent crowds to disrupt them. Meanwhile Nigerian police that kills people without provocation will be nowhere to be found, because this vandalism is being orchestrated by the Buhari regime.
We will review and take appropriate action.