- An Abuja-based rights advocacy group, Opinion Nigeria, has written the United Nation’s General Assembly, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of inaction in the face of series of human rights violations
- The group urged the United Nations General Assembly to raise their voices with them with regards to the following cases of Human Rights abuses that Nigerians have endured under President Buhari’s administration
- The group said the gross misconduct of institutions of government under the APC-led regime adds credence to aggravating human rights defenders, Michel Frost.
The group in the petition signed by its president, Jeff Okoroafor, titled, “A Call on the United Nations to Salvage the Ruins of Human Rights Violation in Nigeria under the Leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari”, noted that, “the reality of Human Rights violation in the present day Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari has been escalated by deliberate inactions of the presidency”. Opinion Nigeria listed the sins of the Buhari administration to include: “the killing of over 100 persons by the Joint Task Force (JTF) and other security agencies (aside militants and thugs) in the 2015 Rivers State election as well as during the re-run election. The 6th September 2016 Police blockade on campaigners of the #BringBackOurGirls, and the aftermath declaration of a ban by the Inspector General of Police on the group’s protest”. The petition alleged other cases of rights violation to include; “the massacre of unarmed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) protesters between 29-30 May 2016, during the planned pro-Biafran commemoration events in Onitsha, Anambra State. The 12th December 2015 clash between the Nigeria Army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria which occurred in Zaria, Kaduna State, where citizens were assaulted and brutalized leading to the death of over 200 persons. Also, the execution of the family of Sheik Ibraheem Zakzaky the leader of the Islamic Movement (unarmed) in his private residence by soldiers. Consistent habit of parading purported armed robbers by the Nigeria Police in local media and subsequently followed by extra-judicial execution by the specialized squad of the police. The scores of killings from Fulani herdsmen across Nigeria which has received no condemnation from the president of the nation is of grave concern to many Nigerians. The continuous detention of Nnamdi Kanu despite meeting his bail obligation is another matter constituting an affront on the rights to justice in Nigeria and an abuse of powers of the presidency”.
President Buhari is set to lead at a delegation to New York where he would address the 71st regular session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, September 21, 2016. About eight months ago, charges were leveled against the Nigerian army following the alleged massacre of Shiites in Zaria, Kaduna state. There has been a series of claims against the Nigerian troops that reportedly raided the Shiites between December 12 and 14, 2015. One of the first charges was that the army attacked unarmed civilians, killing them in their hundreds.
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