LABOUR Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has expressed concern over widespread human rights abuses in Nigeria.
He shared this feeling in a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday, June 25, following an alleged demolition of his brother’s property in Ikeja, Lagos State.
He said any society where lawlessness overrode the rule of law would not be a haven for investors.
He said recent reports showing that Nigeria’s human rights indicators had worsened merely highlighted severe shortfalls in government protection for civil liberties, personal security, and basic living standards.
He said he was among the victims of human rights abuses in the country.
“I know what I have been going through as a person in abuse of my human rights just because I contested a presidential election, which I have legitimate rights to do.
“So I imagine what small business owners, regular citizens, and vulnerable communities face every day,” he stated.
Reacting to how his brother’s property was being pulled down in the heart of Lagos without legal justification, he wondered, “If this level of lawlessness could happen to someone with a registered company and legitimate means, what hope would the ordinary Nigerian have?”
Narrating his brother’s ordeal, Obi said he got a call from him Tuesday morning that a group of people had invaded his property in Ikeja and were demolishing the building.
The younger brother flew to the state from Port-Harcourt but was denied entry to the property by security men who told him they had authorisation to demolish the premises.
“They even informed him that this demolition had started over the weekend. As a peace-loving Nigerian, he quickly started processing to go to court immediately, not knowing what must have resulted in this, as they moved fast to destroy his home without any restraint,” Obi alleged.
He explained further that he had to rush to Lagos from Abuja after receiving the call from his brother and headed straight to the property site.
He said on arrival, he was met by security people who tried to bar him from accessing the property, but he pleaded with them that the property belonged to his brother’s company.
According to Obi, from the records, his brother’s company had owned the property for over a decade.
“They told me they had a court judgment, and I immediately requested it. You would not believe that the court judgment they claim was issued against an unknown person, and squatters. I went further to ask about a demolition order or permit, and there was none.
“How do you sue an unknown person? How does a court issue a judgment in such a farce of a case? No one was served. No name was written. Yet they showed up with excavators and began destroying a structure that had stood for over 15 years,” he wondered.
He said he requested from the excavators the person who sent them, but they said they didn’t know anyone and were only informed to pull down the property.
“I immediately told them to tell whoever it is that I would like to speak with them, if they can call my number, which I shared with the excavators, so that I can speak with whoever gave them the order to demolish the property.
“I stood there from 10 am to 2 pm, waiting to get a call at least, and nobody called or came. The contractor even said he didn’t know who sent him. Two men later came and said they would like us to go to a police station. I asked if they even had a demolition order, but they had nothing,” he further alleged.
He submitted that the whole situation screamed of coordinated lawlessness and impunity, stressing, “our country has become lawless.”
Further wondering how the nation got to that level of lawlessness, he added, “What kind of country are we trying to build when the rights of citizens, their lives, their properties, and their voices are trampled upon daily?”