A gaggle of human rights advocates underneath the auspices of the Coverage and Authorized Advocacy Middle on Friday blasted the federal authorities for flouting the Court docket of Attraction ruling on the continued detention of the chief of the Indigenous Folks of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The Government Director of the Middle for Coverage and Authorized Advocacy, Clement Nwankwo, expressed the reservation at a press convention held in Abuja to mark the World Human Rights Day.
A Federal Court docket of Attraction in Abuja has dominated that the FG violated all native and worldwide legal guidelines in its violent extradition of Kanu to Nigeria, an motion that quashed the terrorism expenses towards him.
Regardless of the decision for Kanu’s launch, the administration of the President, Main Normal Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.), refused to launch him.
The Lawyer Normal of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami stated the IPOB chief was solely acquitted and never launched, insisting that the FG would pursue different expenses towards Kanu.
Lamenting what he termed the blatant abuse of human rights, Nwankwo expressed concern that Nigeria is steadily drifting away from its obligations enshrined within the nation’s structure and varied worldwide obligations underneath human rights treaties.
In line with him, not solely has the state failed to guard its residents from the erosion of their primary and elementary rights, however the authorities has typically been complicit in actions that deny fairly than enhance these rights.
He stated: “For instance, the Court docket of Attraction judgment of October 13 particularly admonished the federal government for its function within the abduction of a wished nationwide from a overseas nation with out due course of to convey him to trial.
“Such unlawful motion by the federal government within the terrorism and treason trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the chief of the Indigenous Folks of Biafra, has invalidated the federal government’s case, rendering it ‘untried’ in Nigeria, the courtroom stated in its landmark ruling.
“However the authorities endured in its path, ignoring the courtroom ruling and on the similar time searching for an attraction. Each the federal and state governments have additionally proven a scarcity of tolerance for criticism.
“They’ve typically chosen to suppress critics by deploying regulatory powers, invoking bogus legal guidelines and utilizing safety forces. Examples embody the banning of Twitter and the quite a few events on which authorities officers, together with the president’s spouse, illegally arrest and detain critics and journalists.”
The human rights advocate really helpful a change in perspective the place the federal government sees itself as the principle defender of human rights, not as their essential violator.
A anxious Nwankwo additionally acknowledged that there’s an pressing have to deal with the grazing battle that has gripped the nation as it’s instantly implicated in meals shortages and their rising prices.
“The federal government ought to redouble its efforts to deal with the pervasive insecurity within the nation and reassert its management over the nation’s territory,” the report stated.
“PLAC known as on the authorities to launch investigations into allegations that some members of the safety forces present bias in the direction of some events within the grazing battle, to nip such practices within the bud, if true, and improve residents’ confidence within the armed forces,” he stated.