Amnesty to Buhari: Human rights should top your agenda this term

Amnesty International Nigeria has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to make human rights a priority in his new term.

Speaking on Friday at the launch of “Nigeria: Human Rights Agenda”, a publication,  Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said during the first term of Buhari over 300 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed.

Ojigho added that many peaceful protests were “violently” disrupted by security agencies.

The director said as the president prepares to lead the country for another four-year term, he should do his best to ensure that his government does not violate human rights.

“During the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, more than 350 minority Shiites are believed to have been unlawfully killed by soldiers in December 2015, in Zaria,” she said.

“From 2015-2016 at least 150 supporters of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were killed. Also, many peaceful protests were violently disrupted by security forces

“As President Buhari prepares to lead the country for the next four years, we are calling on the government to seize this moment to end the violations and the impunity that continues to fuel them, by placing human rights protection top of its agenda for the next four years.

“The government should publicly commit to promote, protect, respect and fulfil all human rights of everyone.”

Ojigho said the “new government should strengthen mechanisms that ensure justice for past abuses and enable it to meet its human rights obligations under the Nigerian constitution.”

The eight point agenda Amnesty International set for Buhari are:

• End all forms of violence against women and girls
• Protect the rights of children
• Ensure accountability for the Niger Delta clean-up
• Guarantee freedom of expression
• End torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions
• Secure Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Protect the civic space and improve the operating environment for human rights defenders and activists
• Abolish the death penalty and commute all death sentences