A HUMAN Rights Lawyer and the Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) said he had reconciled his differences with the Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria (AIN) Osai Ojigho over the dismissal of human rights abuses.
Tietie said this in a letter sent to The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (The ICIR) following a report by The Centre.
The ICIR had in a report detailed how Amnesty International turns blind eye to human rights abuses in Nigeria and bullies staff.
One such case was the issue of some women sacked by a telecommunication company, Globacom in which Tietie was involved as an activist.
When AIN’s intervention was sought, Tietie noted Ojigho said it was beyond the thematic areas of the organisation for 2018.
Tietie, in an email sent to a former AIN interim Country Director, Makmid Kamara, blamed Ojigho’s management as one of the reasons for the state of Human Rights abuses in Nigeria.
Responding to The ICIR report, Tietie acknowledged that although he wrote the email to Kamara, he has since settled his differences with Ojigho.
“So, in 2019, I quickly embraced the opportunity when Osai Ojigho extended a further hand of fellowship to me to continue to partner with AIN despite my earlier disappointments with her decisions in the cases of the sacked Globacom women and that of Sen. Dino Melaye, whom I felt was abandoned to state persecution, both cases of which I recommended for the intervention of Amnesty International Nigeria.
“Thus, we reconciled and it has been a time of mutually enhancing opportunity for a partnership that is ready to engage anytime the need arises,” Tietie said in the letter.
He noted that Ojigho had reviewed her earlier decision on the sacked Globacom women and caused Amnesty International Nigeria to invite the representatives of the sacked women to Abuja for engagement on the matter.
“I don’t know the details of the extent of AIN intervention at this time of writing but some of the women have expressed deep satisfaction that Amnesty International Nigeria finally intervened in their matter,” he said.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94