Amnesty Int’l to Buhari, ‘sponsored protests’ won’t deter us from speaking truth

Global rights group, Amnesty International, has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of sponsoring protest against it for condemning the government’s fatal use of force against Shiites.

Protesters had earlier on Friday stormed the Abuja office of Amnesty International demanding its immediate exit from Nigeria. They had also accused the organisation of attempting to destabilise the country.

The nationwide protest, tagged ‘RevolutionNow’, was planned by Omoyele Sowore, a media personality and politician.

The protest follows after reports that the government was planning to blacklist Amnesty International as a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty.

However, AI in a statement on Friday said it will not be intimidated by those who have been sponsoring protests against the organisation.

The organisation noted that it had been working in Nigeria since 1967 and it would continue to hold the government accountable.

The statement read, “Amnesty International is a human rights organisation and not affiliated to any interests, political, religious or commercial. We have been working on Nigeria since 1967 – our role is to hold governments to their obligations to respect and protect human rights, and to ensure that anyone whose rights are violated has an effective remedy.

“For this reason, the organisation continues to call on the Nigerian government to use its authority and resources to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including of rape, torture, arbitrary detentions and unlawful killings, to ensure reparation for the victims, to hold the perpetrators accountable, and to ensure non-repetition of the violations.

“Despite sponsored protests, we will not stay silent. In the face of efforts to evade responsibility or to smear our organisation, we will continue to raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustice, sexual abuse, discrimination against women, or any other violations of human rights in Nigeria.”