Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has slammed President Bola Tinubu over his frequent rights abuse and demanded immediate release of whistleblower, Bristol Tamunobiefiri, who owns the PIDOM Nigeria blog on X/Twitter.
Atiku in a statement on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr Phrank Shaibu said Tinubu who rode to power over what he called exaggerated claims of being a freedom fighter, has turned against the people by allowing the Department of State Services (DSS), police and even the military to abuse the rights of citizens without any consequences.
Recall Tamunobiefiri who frequently posts on X/Twitter what he called secret files and exclusives was arrested a few weeks ago. The police have said he would be charged to court in the coming days following pressure and criticisms.
Atiku condemned the manner in which citizens are arrested under the Tinubu administration which he described as gestapo without the knowledge of their relatives who go about looking for them for several weeks.”
The former Vice President said the most affected since Tinubu took office have been journalists whose only crime is reporting the news and exposing government indiscretion.
He argued that the CyberCrime Prevention Act 2015 had become a tool with which officials in the Tinubu administration were abducting citizens while the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) had transmuted into the defunct SARS.
Atiku added, “The dangerous trend of enforced disappearances has become a national embarrassment for a country which claims to be practising democracy.”
Atiku recalled that, “On May 1, 2024, Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism went missing and was presumed abducted by kidnappers until he was later discovered to be in police custody on the orders of IGP Kayode Egbetokun.
“Ojukwu’s crime was that he exposed the corruption of a government official who currently serves in Tinubu’s administration.
“On July 23, the DSS arrested one Aliyu Sanusi in Sama Road of Sokoto, the state capital for printing and distributing materials ahead of the #EndBadGovernanceProtest. Even the arrest and release of the former BBC Pidgin Editor and current West Africa Regional Editor of the Conversation, Adejuwon Soyinka, clearly shows a pattern, whose objective is to intimidate journalists for speaking truth to this government.
“Now, the police have arrested Bristol Tamunobiefiri, who owns the PIDOM Nigeria blog on X, formerly Twitter. After detaining him for over two weeks, he was granted an administrative bail, which will be impossible to meet.
“This is despite the fact that the Appeal Court, in the case of EFCC V. Emem Uboh (2022) LPEIR – 57968 (CA) held that administrative bail is illegal. Bristol should, therefore, be arraigned in court immediately or released.”
Atiku advised Tinubu to take cases of human rights abuses seriously or Nigeria would remain at the risk of being slammed with sanctions which would prevent western powers from selling weapons, a development he argues could undermine Nigeria’s ability to tackle insecurity.
“Amnesty International still has a pending petition before the Foreign Committee of the US Congress against the sale of weapons to Nigeria due to human rights concerns in line with the Leahy Law.
“Tinubu would do well to curb these cases of rights abuses by law enforcement authorities who all report to him as commander-in-chief,” the former Vice President said.