The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) national Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, and the United Nations Secretary-General in New York to exert pressure on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to refrain from deploying armed security operatives against peaceful protesters in protest of rising living costs and bad governance slated for October 1, 2024.
HURIWA stated that its decision to use mass media to appeal to the United Nations is based on growing evidence that the Nigerian government, under President Tinubu, is preparing to deploy heavily armed security operatives to shoot peaceful demonstrators on October 1, just as over two dozen protesters were allegedly killed during the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests across the country.
The rights group stated that those responsible for killing peaceful protesters would be identified and brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, for crimes against humanity.
“We are warning the military and police service chiefs, including the head of the nation’s secret police, that they may be held accountable at the ICC in The Hague for the unlawful killings of peaceful protesters in Nigeria, no matter how long it takes to achieve this objective by the organized civil rights community in Nigeria,” HURIWA said in a statement signed by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, its National Coordinator.
HURIWA expressed shock that nearly two months after many peaceful protesters were extrajudicially killed by armed security forces deployed by the Nigerian government, the United Nations, along with major global democratic leaders such as U.S. President Joe Biden, the Prime Ministers of the UK and Canada, and European Union leaders, have maintained a “conspiratorial silence” regarding the bloodshed.
The group stated that the ongoing suppression of civic space by the government, using the brute force of armed security operatives, threatens constitutional democracy in Nigeria.
HURIWA reminded the UN Human Rights Council of its obligation to protect human rights defenders and ensure that member nations, including Nigeria, which has subscribed to various human rights treaties, respect, uphold, and protect constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms. The group referenced the UNHRC’s official mandate, which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, which are essential components of democracy.”
