HUMAN rights violations have thrived under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, six months after assuming power, a human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has said.
The organisation revealed this in a statement signed by its director, Isa Sanusi, following the launch of its human rights agenda, which aims to establish a framework for the Nigerian government to investigate and address human rights abuses.
According to the organisation, Tinubu’s policies did not address rampant human rights violations nationwide. It urged the administration to ensure that human rights are at the centre of its policies.
“Tinubu’s new administration still has the chance not only to ensure that everyone is able to fully and effectively enjoy their human rights but also to hold perpetrators of past rights violations to account,” the report reads.
The organisation further urged the government to implement the findings of previous investigation panels on human rights violations and investigate cases of human rights violations recorded under the past government to ensure justice and accountability.
“Amnesty International has prepared a detailed human rights agenda for the Nigerian authorities. The government must now respond not by paying lip service to human rights, but by ensuring that their words are matched with concrete actions to protect and uphold the rights of everyone in the country.
“President Tinubu’s administration must guarantee and ensure respect for the human rights of everyone in the country. In Nigeria, the rights to freedom of expression and media freedom are routinely violated. Occasionally, security forces threaten, arrest, and detain journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and activists simply for doing their work. During the 2023 general elections, at least 42 journalists were attacked, harassed, beaten, or denied access to cover the elections.
Amnesty International also implored the government to devise a permanent solution to the security challenges plaguing the nation and conduct an exhaustive and transparent probe into the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by security forces in the northeast and other regions of the country.
“Since 2009, the Nigerian military has committed gross human rights violations and crimes under international law, including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and incommunicado detention in the northeast.
“The authorities must also fully implement findings of the investigation of the killings of peaceful #EndSARS protesters by the military and Police at Lekki Toll Gate on 20 October 2020, as well as the rising cost of living triggered by the removal of fuel subsidy and increasing taxation amidst unprecedented inflation.”
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.