6th August, 2024
Press Release
Global Rights reiterates its call on the Nigerian government to respect its citizens’ right to protest and desist from further aggravating protesters across the country. It also calls on protesters to be law-abiding and peaceful in their conduct.
We restate our stance because of our concern that the #EndBadGovernance protests which have swept Nigeria since the 1st of August continue to occasion a plethora of human rights violations and abuses. Our core concern is the overzealousness of Nigerian law enforcement agents to unlawfully arrest and intimidate peaceful protesters. Worse still, their disproportionate force intimidates protesters. They have continued to deploy teargas and live ammunition to disperse protesters in Lagos, Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Kano and Nasarawa States. The use of these dangerous ammunition rather than non-lethal weapons to disperse protesters is highly condemnable and out of step with International human rights standards. Lethal force must always be an instrument of last resort when other tools of de-escalation have failed.
Nigerian law enforcement and security agents’ primary focus during peaceful protests should be to provide protection for the protesters as they exercise their constitutional rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. It is unconscionable for them to stand idly by while thugs threaten protesters and journalists who are covering the protests.
We are equally concerned about the #EndBadGovernance protests being used as a basis to engage in hate speech. We have observed the vitriol against certain ethnicities, in particular, the Igbos, who were threatened against participating in the protests in Lagos State solely on the grounds of their ethnicity. Social media recorded the frequent use of the hashtag #SendIgbosHome, particularly on X (formerly Twitter). This divisive hashtag reechoes the ethnic profiling and hate speech that were propagated in Lagos around the 2019 and 2023 general elections. This sort of divisive and hateful rhetoric is a threat to the social cohesion of the entire country. Relying on S45(1) (a) and (b) which limit the freedom of expression in the interest of public safety and order, and Section 24 (1) (b) of the The Cybercrime Act, 2015; we call on law enforcement agents to investigate and apprehend the purveyors of this form of ethnic profiling and hate speech, and for all Nigerians call out and immediately demand accountability of those who promote such hateful and divisive language.
We are also cognizant of the fact that Nigerians in major city centers across the country have had significant difficulties accessing the internet. Access to the internet which serves as a primary information source in the 21st century is provided for by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Nigeria has ratified. It is difficult to accept the government’s argument made by its Minister of Communication, Mr Bosun Tijani that the Nigerian authorities did not instruct telecommunication companies to throttle internet access of Nigerian citizens as a countermeasure against the protests. The antecedents of the Nigerian Government give it no credibility on this issue, especially considering the Twitter ban in 2021 which still serves as a landmark moment in the effort to restrict the freedom of expression and information in Nigeria. Consequently, we ask the Nigerian government to cease and desist from hindering internet access across the country. We reiterate that their focus should be on addressing the underlying issues of insecurity and inflation currently underpinning the protests.
On our part, Global Rights remains committed to promoting citizens’ rights to participate in their own governance and their right to dissent. We sue all parties to engage peacefully and respectfully as we continue to monitor the current protests while demanding accountability of all involved.
Abiodun Baiyewu
Executive Director