ActionAid Nigeria, Amnesty International Caution Against Human Rights Abuses On Peaceful Protesters.

By Ferdinand Olise

ActionAid Nigeria, and Amnesty International, have expressed shock over reports they described as brutal and unlawful attacks on peaceful demonstrators and members of the civil society community in Abuja and Lagos State.

In a statement signed by the Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, and the Country Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, the Action Aid Nigeria said, the protesters, which included Ms. Yemi Adamolekun of the Enough Is Enough, (EiE), Movement in Lagos laying flowers in commemoration of deceased members of the ENDSARs protesters, drew a heavy security response across both cities and were met with excessive force.

The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, said these spates of violence represent a grievous and unacceptable assault on the fundamental constitutional rights of Nigerian citizens to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and association.

He said, “Such actions by security agents, specifically the Nigeria Police Force, are not merely isolated incidents of misconduct, they constitute a systematic and unbecoming attempt to shrink the civic space and stifle legitimate public dissent. We assert that peaceful demonstration is the bedrock of any functioning democracy, and its protection is a non-negotiable duty of the State.
“Any force deployed against peaceful protesters, resulting in injury or assault, is a direct breach of domestic and international human rights laws, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Nigeria’s own Constitution.
The deliberate use of excessive force transforms the state’s role from protector of its citizens to perpetrator of violence”.

Meanwhile, the e Country Director of Amnesty International, Isa Sanusi, noted that the recurring pattern of brutality exhibited by security agencies in dealing with peaceful assembly is deeply entrenched, and must be decisively dismantled.

“ActionAid Nigeria and Amnesty International demand an immediate, thorough, impartial, and independent investigation into all reported attacks on protesters in Abuja, and the assault on Yemi Adamolekun, with clear accountability for those who ordered and executed these violations.

“These repeated assaults reflect a disturbing shrinkage of Nigeria’s civic space where citizens exercising their constitutional rights to assemble and speak are increasingly met with repression. Government at all levels must immediately cease all attempts to suppress peaceful protests, and must ensure that security agencies are strictly directed to respect and protect the rights of citizens to assemble and express themselves freely, with strict adherence to human rights standards and rules of engagement”, he said.

ActionAid Nigeria and Amnesty International therefore affirmed that they stand in solidarity with the victims of these attacks, and remain committed to monitoring the situation closely. They urged federal government to take immediate, decisive steps to demonstrate its commitment to human rights and the sanctity of the civic space.