No fewer than 67 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government to immediately end harassment and threats against Amnesty International (AI) and other groups in the country.
The CSOs said that the Nigeria Police Force, in a letter dated 6th January 2025, threatened Amnesty International with a purported legal action over the organisation’s recent report titled: “Nigeria: Bloody August: Nigerian government’s violent crackdown on #EndBadGovernance protests.”
The CSOs are: 21st Century Community Empowerment for Youth Initiative; Accountability Lab, Nigeria; Abuja School of Social and Political Thought; Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ); African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD); African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL); Amnesty International Nigeria; Borno Coalition for Democracy and Progress (BOCODEP); BudgIT Foundation; Center for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity; Centre Democracy and Development (CDD); Centre for Community Empowerment in Conflict and Peacebuilding – Kaduna; Centre for Democratic Research and Training (CRDDERT); Centre for Global Tolerance and Human Rights; Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD); Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID); Centre for Social Centre for Justice Reform; Centre for Transparency Watch; Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); CLEEN Foundation; Community Life Project (CLP); Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR); Connected Development (CODE); Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA); Elixir Trust Foundation; Emma Ezeazu Centre for Good Governance and Accountability; Environmental Rights Action; Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA); Falana and Falana’s Chambers; Global Rights and Good Governance Team.
Others are: Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF); Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre); Human Rights Social Development and Environmental Foundation; INVICTUS AFRICA; Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre; Lawyers Alert; Media Initiative for Transparency in Extractive Industries (MITEI); Media Rights Agenda; Mothers and Marginalised Advocacy Centre (MAMA Centre); Nigeria Network of NGOs; Open Society on Justice Reform Project; Order Paper; Organisation for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN); Partners West Africa; Policy Alert; Praxis; Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA); Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative; Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED); RULAAC – Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre; Say NO Campaign – Nigeria; Sensor Empowerment Foundation; Social Action; Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre; Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP); State of the Union (SOTU); Tax Justice and Governance Platform; Transition Monitoring Group (TMG); West Africa Civil Society Forum (WASCSOF); Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); Women in Media Communication Initiative (WIM); Women in Mining, Nigeria; World Impact Development Foundation; Yiaga Africa and Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC).
The statement said: “We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are seriously concerned about the ongoing intimidation, harassment and threat against Amnesty International in Nigeria by the Nigeria Police Force and call on the government of President Bola Tinubu to end the escalating crackdown on activists, human rights, journalists and other Nigerians simply for peacefully exercising their human rights.
“We note that the Nigeria Police Force, in a letter dated 6th January 2025, threatened Amnesty International with a purported legal action over the organisation’s recent report titled: “Nigeria: Bloody August: Nigerian government’s violent crackdown on #EndBadGovernance protests.”
“We also note that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) reported that 27 protesters were killed by the police while about 800 people were arrested during the #EndBadGovernance protests across the country in August 2024. Several protesters were reportedly detained without charges or trial. Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN also reported that some 22 protesters were killed while over 2,000 protesters were arrested during the protests in several states.
“We are seriously concerned that rather than promptly, thoroughly, impartially, independently and effectively investigating these grave allegations of human rights violations and abuses, bringing suspected perpetrators to justice and ensuring effective remedies and adequate compensation for victims and their families, the police is deliberately intimidating, threatening and targeting Amnesty International.
“The intimidation, harassment and threat against Amnesty International coming after the recent reports of intimidation and harassment of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), and in the context of the ongoing repression of civic space and attacks against activists, human rights defenders, and journalists demonstrates an alarming crackdown on civic space and human rights in Nigeria. We are concerned that the intimidation, harassment and threat against Amnesty International have seriously undermined the space for activists, human rights defenders, journalists and other Nigerians to carry out their legitimate human rights activities and work, and to freely associate and express themselves,” the CSOs said.
The CSOs said they are concerned that Nigerian authorities continue to disregard their obligations under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which the country is a state party.
“We stand in solidarity with Amnesty International. The intimidation, harassment and threat against Amnesty International and the escalating crackdown on the human rights movement in the country must end. We call on the government of President Bola Tinubu to direct the Nigerian Police Force to immediately end its ongoing intimidation, harassment and threat against Amnesty International and to allow the organisation to freely carry out its human rights work in the country without any fear of reprisals.
“We call on the Tinubu administration to thoroughly, impartially, independently and effectively investigate the grave allegations of human rights violations and abuses in the context of the #EndBadGovernance protests. The administration must ensure that those suspected to be responsible are brought to justice promptly and that victims and their families are provided access to justice and effective remedies. We call on the Tinubu administration to immediately take measures to ensure a conducive environment where civil society organisations, activists, human rights defenders, journalists and other Nigerians will feel safe to carry out their work and exercise their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.
“We call on the Tinubu administration to immediately halt all acts of repression, judicial harassment and intimidation against activists, human rights defenders, journalists and civil society organisations. We call on the Tinubu administration to end its ongoing crackdown on human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, as well as to respect everyone’s human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria,” the CSOs added.
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