A prominent pro-democracy and
civil Rights advocacy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA
(HURIWA) has accused the Federal government, the heads of the Courts of
collective conspiracy to silence dissenting voices and to cripple the enjoyment
of human rights by the citizenry.
HURIWA accused the Federal
government of resorting to self-help measures because it is unable to steer the
ship of State away from the economic adversity it has self-inflicted on
Nigerians due to poor economic policies. The Rights group said the government
has realised that it has failed comprehensively to deliver all the promises
made to voters and have concluded that the only way to retain power is to
curtail the enjoyment of constitutional freedoms enshrined in the chapter four
of the supreme law.
In the face of this
coordinated attacks on freedoms of the citizenry, HURIWA has tasked the media under section 22 of the
Constitution to investigate and publish
background information on the judges that are now enlisted by the Federal
government and some state governments to perpetuate horrendous human rights
abuses through obnoxious ex-parte orders and unattainable bail conditions
issued to detained Rights activist and journalists such as Omoyele SOWORE;
denial of bail application by Agba
Jalingo and many other users of social media detained in the orders of many
governors.
HURIWA has also advocated the
immediate blacklisting of seemingly public relations routine coverages extended
to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, the Attorney General of
the federation and minister of justice, the Chief justice of Nigeria, the Chief
judge of federal high court, the
Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS); the governors of
Cross Rivers; Kaduna;Kano and Kebbi states and the office of the Inspector
General of Police until they purge themselves of the tendencies to abuse their
offices and powers by adopting contrived interpretation of the cybercrime and
counter terrorism laws as tools of political witch hunt targeting dissenting
voices including journalists and civil Rights leaders. HURIWA said the
government has turned logic on its head by misapplication of Cyber crime and
anti terrorism laws to use them as instruments of witch hunt and vicious
clampdown on social activists and social media users.
Besides, HURIWA laments the
conspiratorial silence of the central body of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ); the
Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Labour Congress in the face of the current
hurricane and brazen attacks of free speech and other basic and fundamental
rights of citizens as clearly guaranteed by Chapter four and chapter two of the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended) as
committed by security agents under the direct control and command of President
Muhammadu Buhari.
The Rights group expressed
consternation that the Chief justice of Nigeria Muhammad Tanko and the Acting
Chief Judge of the Federal High Court John Tsoho have refused to check the
emerging unholy alliances by some of the judges with the security forces to
rope in human rights activists and journalists and to facilitate the prolonged
detention of such human rights activists and journalists only because those who
wield political power are not comfortable with the exercises of the fundamental
human rights which are clearly guaranteed by both international human rights
laws and the Nigerian laws. HURIWA for instance wonders why the Department of
State Services has become the official attack dog of the Presidency instead of
going after the real terrorists; armed bandits and traitors threatening the
corporate existence of Nigeria but has become the errand boys of governors and
have begun detaining even babies and their parents only for sending text
messages to the Kebbi state governor to demand for payments of pensions owed
their Father.
Relatedly, the Rights group
HURIWA absolutely condemns obnoxious
bail conditions slammed on the publisher of Saharareporters.com Omoyele SOWORE
by a judge of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court even when she is
aware of a subsisting bail granted by another court of coordinate jurisdiction
and which the Department of State Services and the Nigerian government did not
obey.
The Rights group said the
refusal to grant bail to Agba Jalingo by a federal high court in Cross Rivers
state over allegations of publication of false reports of corruption against
the Cross Rivers State governor and the brutal treatment of the journalist seen
on handcuffs by the federal police is a clear demonstration of the plots by the
Federal and state governments with the judiciary to harass, intimidate and
detain human rights activists and journalists for as long as possible with the
iron cast determination of government to create fear, panic and apprehensions
in the public space of Nigeria and to keep human rights activists,
investigative journalists and dissenting voices out of circulation or in
perpetual fear of the emerging police state.
HURIWA cited the media report
that the police in Cross River State
have reportedly obtained a court order to keep a Nigerian lawyer, Joseph Odok,
in detention as one in the series of on going national CLAMPDOWN of activists
and dissenting voices just as the Rights group stated that the media attested to
the fact that Mr Odok, is a known critic of the Cross River governor, Ben
Ayade, was arrested on September 26 in Abuja on allegation of “terrorism” and
taken to Calabar by road.
HURIWA absolutely condemns the
issuance of the court order which was obtained on Friday at the Federal High
Court, Calabar, through a motion ex-parte by a prosecution counsel, Dennis
Tarhemba, according to a report published by CrossRiverWatch even as Mr
Tarhemba, a deputy superintendent of police, is the same official prosecuting a
Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo, in the same court.
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