The Executive Secretary, Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO), Ezike Ibuchukwu, says the current administration has blatantly abused the human rights of many Nigerians and sees no hope for redress.
By OLAWUNMI OJO
It has been three years since the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration took office. How would you score the government in terms of respect for human rights and the rule of law?
I will say it has been very poor. This government promised to uphold the rule of law and respect people’s human rights. Recall that certain Nigerians’ rights have been repeatedly violated and when human rights organisations react, they would tag us as enemies of the government.
Look at the government’s stance on the Shiites group and their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, for instance. This has remained a sore thumb for the administration. If somebody does something wrong, what you do is to take the person to court and consequently, you obey the court directive.
All over the world, citizens can protest the activities of government that they believe are not in tandem with respect for their human rights or which offends their personal beliefs. On several occasions, Nigerians have protested the activities of this government and they were arrested. And when the court directed that some of those persons be released, this government have refused to honour the court pronouncements and remained recalcitrant.
Let me cite few examples. You would recall that the court ordered that former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki be released. As we speak, he is still in detention.
There are certain persons who protested against the policies of government and who believe that the government is no longer giving them opportunities to achieve in accordance with their will power. I am referring to Igbo youths who protested and said they wanted to go out of Nigeria. Their protests did not offend the laws of this land. They possessed no arms and killed nobody. Yet, they were viciously killed by agents of this government. Those who committed these atrocities have not been brought to book.
Another instance is the killings ongoing across the country by herdsmen. The government has done nothing to curtail the activities of these people nor has it prosecuted any of the perpetrators. As we speak, many homes and communities have been raided and destroyed; people’s farms have been destroyed and lives cut short. Government has done nothing.
The most recent was the raid on a church where a Reverend Father was murdered. The government also promised to totally check the activities of Boko Haram. Unfortunately, this has not been achieved. Instead, all we see is campaigns of calumny against those who say the government has failed to do what it promised the people. We can go on when it comes to how badly this administration has fared badly in issues of human rights violation.
Are you not persuaded that the attitude of government could change or is all hope lost?
It would be pleasant to hope for redress of all these abuses but unfortunately, nothing good would come from this administration for Nigerians. If we begin to discuss the human rights violation by this government, we would get to the hopelessness and hunger pervading the land. If you have right to life and do not have such other rights to food, accommodation, health care services, good water and other things that sustain life, you unfortunately do not have right to life.
The socio-economic condition in this country is laughable. Properties are being destroyed and farms are being destroyed. We are not seeing any noticeable impact of the economy on the people. What is the exchange rate of the Naira to other currencies even in Africa? Worse still, look at what is now going on within the All Progressives Congress. If the party cannot get things right and organise itself, then what should people expect from the government it produced. The remaining year of this administration may just be more agonising for Nigerians.