HURIWA Urges UN to Protect October 1st Protesters from Tinubu’s Planned Armed Crackdown

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, or HURIWA, has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council and Secretary-General António Guterres to intervene by pressuring President Tinubu not to use state armed forces against protesters rallying on October 1st against Nigeria’s deteriorating living conditions and governance, citing previous violent crackdowns.

The rights group disclosed this in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, as reported by Daily Post.

HURIWA noted that its appeal to the UN is based on “growing evidence” indicating that the Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu is planning to deploy state security operatives to shoot protesters planning to hold demonstrations on October 1st, 2024, to protest the increasingly low standard of living and bad governance.

Subsequently, in the statement, HURIWA noted that over two dozen were allegedly killed during the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests in August 2024.

HURIWA further vowed that those responsible would be identified and brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, for crimes committed against humanity.

We are warning the military and police service chiefs, including the head of the nation’s secret police, that they may be held accountable at the ICC in The Hague for the unlawful killings of peaceful protesters in Nigeria, no matter how long it takes to achieve this objective by the organised civil rights community in Nigeria, HURIWA wrote.

While HURIWA notably reminded OHCHR of its obligation to protect human rights, human rights lawyers and protest organisers have vowed to carry on with the protests regardless of state security agencies calling for the demonstrations to be shunned.

Related News: Human Rights Lawyer Inibehe Effiong Writes IGP, Demands Protection of Protesters

Kano Police Parade 89 Crime Suspects, Warn Residents to Desist from October 1 Protests

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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