ABUJA- Human rights organisation Amnesty International has berated President Bola Tinubu over the violent crackdown on #EndHunger protesters and subsequent raid of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) office and National Labour Congress offices.
Amnesty International, in a statement on Friday, said the crackdown on protesters and raid of CDHR and NLC offices shows the president’s “disregard for human rights and determination to crush dissent.”
“The violent crackdown on protesters against hunger nationwide since 1 August trailed by attacks on civil society organisations are a worrying indication of President Bola Tinubu’s government utter disregard for human rights and determination to crush dissent,” Amnesty International said.
The organisation said, “The unlawful invasion of the Ikeja Lagos office of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) This coming days after NLC headquarters was ransacked is a dangerous dimension to the attacks on freedom of association.”
“The dwindling civic space in #Nigeria is set to create a toxic climate of fear that may put activists, human rights defenders, civil society organisations and journalists in danger.”
Before the raid of CDHR and NLC offices by security operatives, Amnesty International had condemned Nigerian police for deploying live bullets against protesters and killing over 20 people since the nationwide protest over economic hardship started on August 1.
However, Nigerian police have denied killing anyone during the protests despite footage showing them opening fire on protesters.
Meanwhile, the Take It Back Movement, an arrowhead among organisers of the 10-day #EndBadGovernance protests, said it is mobilising for a massive grand finale of the nationwide demonstrations over economic hardships under Mr Tinubu’s watch.
Insisting on their demands, fuel subsidy removal reversal and tackling of food crisis in the country, the group called for justice for protesters killed by Nigerian security operatives during the nationwide protest.
