Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian government and its American counterpart to stop the competition about who violates citizens’ right more than the other.
The organisation’s statement is the response to the Nigerian Army’s tweets using President Trump’s words to justify the fatal shooting of rock-throwing protesters and the subsequent issuing of a statement denouncing Amnesty International’s calls for accountability.
“Basic human rights are not subject to whims of the world’s leaders. Rather than engaging in a preposterous competition over who does a better job of violating human rights, the Nigerian government must hold its security forces accountable for the horrific killing of at least 45 peaceful protesters,” said the Amnesty International Nigeria Executive Director, Osai Ojigho said.
In the like manner, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, Margaret Huang reprimanded the US President, Donal Trump for “encouraging and justifying human rights abuses” in his latest statements.
“No president should be embracing the horrific use of excessive force. The president’s outrageous threats against people fleeing violence and seeking a better life only compound their already precarious situation and exacerbate what he should be recognizing as a human rights crisis,” she said.
“Both the US and the Nigerian governments must abide by international human rights law and standards. International law is clear that security forces policing demonstrations must not use unnecessary or excessive force against protesters unless they pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury, and only if there is no lesser way to avert such threat. They must never use firearms as a tactical tool for the management of demonstrations: they may only be used for the purpose of saving another life.”
An investigation conducted by Amnesty International this week has shown that the “horrific use of excessive force by soldiers and police led to the killing of at least 45 supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) over two days when the Shi’a Muslim group held a peaceful religious procession around Abuja,” the report stated.