The Civil Liberty Organisation says the detention of some minors who participated in the protest against bad governance from August 1 to 10 has marked Nigeria as an absolute violator of human rights.
According to the group, the act has ranked the country “poorer in global human rights index”. This was contained in a release signed by the Executive Director of the group, Comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike.
The statement read in part, “CLO condemns in an unspeakable terms, the arrest, detention, trial and starvation of the 76 and other Nigerians who protested against the man-made hardship, suffering and poverty in Nigeria. Protest, the world over, is a fundamental right of the citizens.”
CLO also condemned Justice Egwunatu of an Abuja Federal High Court for refusing to acquit and discharge those detained as requested by the defence counsel, Barr. Marshall Abubakar.
“The treatment of the 76 grossly infringes on their rights, amounts to crime against humanity and violates both domestic and international human rights instruments, namely our national laws, African Charter and the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights,” the release added.
It said the act further deteriorated the embarrassing human rights record of Nigeria, recalling that “Only recently, Nigeria lost her bid to become a member state of the UN Human Rights Council when she scored only three votes to come behind Burundi, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Malawi.”
CLO mentioned other human rights violations exhibited by Nigerian authorities to include besieging of the offices of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) as well as the arrest of the President of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, at the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Quoting the group, “All these are ominous signs of Nigeria’s dissent to civilian authoritarianism. It’s regrettable that President Tinubu who was in the trenches against military dictatorship is today arresting, detaining and prosecuting minors who protested against his government over bad governance, human rights abuses and corruption.”
CLO cautioned that no ruler has a right to oppress and maltreat his or her country men and women for condemning bad governance, and called on the international community to take note of “Nigeria’s heinous human rights abuses in order to take commensurate actions against her state actors accordingly.”
It also called on all human rights groups in Nigeria, the church, mosques, Nigeria Bar Association, the media, among others, to rise up to the challenge and help rescue Nígeria and Nígerians from civilian dictatorship.