THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has charged the Federal Government to end increasing attacks on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association across Nigeria.
The organisation in a series of tweets to mark the 2019 Human Rights called on the Nigerian government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience including Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare, Agba Jalingo and withdraw all charges against them.
“We will continue to pursue legal actions to challenge any attempts to turn back the clock on human rights in Nigeria,” SERAP wrote.
It also urged Nigerians and members of the international community to speak out more and more loudly about persistent violations of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom by the Federal Government and state governors across the country.
The organisation said Nigerian authorities must use the occasion of the Human Rights Day2019 to publicly commit to improving access of Nigerians to quality education, better healthcare systems, access to justice for all [including by immediately implementing all court courts] and end growing inequality.
The ICIR had reported that the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari, several times, has demonstrated it has no regard for such constitutional provisions that guarantee Nigerians’ freedom of expression, association, and assembly.
In the nearly five years of the Buhari administration, journalists have been arrested and detained without trial, protests have been met with force by the government agents, voices of dissents have been stifled by the government, and court orders, ignored.
Abeeb Alawiye formerly works with The ICIR as a Reporter/Social Media officer. Now work as a Senior Journalist with BBC News Yoruba. You can shoot him an email via [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @habsonfloww