Amnesty International, HURIWA Condemn Arrest of NLC Leader, Says Tinubu Setting Dangerous Record
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has decried the arrest of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero.
HURIWA in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko on Monday in Abuja expressed disappointment and sadness over the “deteriorating democratic standards in Nigetia under president Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
HURIWA, therefore, called on world leaders and organisations to urgently intervene to rescue Nigerian democracy from ruin under President Tinubu.
The statement urged “the leaders of the respectable and powerful international community such as the President of the United States of America Mr. Joe Biden, the Prime Minister of Britain Mr. Keir Starmer, the PM of Canada Mr. Justin Trudeau and the Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Antonio Guiterres to intervene in the rapidly deteriorating democratic standards in Nigetia under president Bola Ahmed Tinubu and to stop him from destroying democratic freedoms in his attempt to establish dictatorship and tyranny in Nigeria which violates the sanctity of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended which the current administration swore to uphold.”
The group condemned the oppressive attitude of President Tinubu and his co-travllers noting that Nigeria’s ruling class seem to have forgotten that the same people of Nigeria the government is currently oppressing are the source of legitimacy and power of the government.
According to HURIWA, the government should note that “under the Nigerian Constitution the people are the owners of the Sovereignty of Nigeria whereas the elected politicians are only exercising power legitimately through the donations of legitimacy made to them by the people of Nigeria through a democratic election for specified tenure.”
“We are by this statement calling for the immediate cessation of all kinds of coordinated attacks targeting the NLC, human rights campaigners and media practitioners by this administration so as to protect and preserve constitutional principles in Nigeria.”
Also, Amnesty International (AI) has joined the call for the immediate release of the abducted leader of the NLC.
In a statement it issued in Abuja on Monday the by the Head of the international human rights group, Isa Sanusi, the group condemned the “arbitrary arrest” of Comrade Ajaaero warning that President Bola Tinubu was setting a dangerous precedent in Nigeria.
The statement states that the Amnesty International “strongly condemns the unlawful arrest of the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero by the Department of State Services (DSS) today. The labour union leader must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
“The arbitrary arrest of Joe Ajaero shows an escalating crackdown on human rights and restrictions on civic space by the government of President Bola Tinubu.”
“President Bola Tinubu’s government persistently attacks and undermines the operations of the NLC, through fabricated allegations, raids on NLC headquarters and other forms of harassment and intimidation. This growing culture of impunity and disdain for workers’ rights to organize and seek better welfare must stop.
“President Tinubu is setting a new record of utter disregard for the rule of law.”