By Adadareporters
A pro-democracy group, Human Rights Writers Association, Sunday, berated the federal government of President Bola Tinubu for insinuating that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, is engineering the August 1 to 10 nationwide protest against FG’s harsh economic policies.
The group warned FG against criminalizing the planned protests, adding that protest is a democratic principle.
The national coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a release, said protests are civic actions to advocate accountability, transparency and good governance.
Recall that the special adviser to President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, earlier accused Peter Obi of being the brain behind the looming protest, warning of the consequences.
Since Onanuga’s claims, Prof Pat Utomi did challenge the presidential aide to prove his claims, asserting that Onanuga, a foremost journalist, had reduced his acclaimed esteemed journalist status. Also, the Labour Party denied the accusation.
HURIWA described the allegation against Obi as unsubstantiated, saying, “the statement by Bayo Onanuga amounted to a reckless, careless, ruthlessly lawless rumour mongering which is overheating the public space unduly.”
HURIWA charged Tinubu to caution Onanuga to stop “behaving and speaking like a fascist because only in fascism or totalitarianism is peaceful assembly by the citizens to agitate for good governance is criminalised.”
HURIWA further condemned what it called “unconstitutional and illegal arrest and arbitrary detention of Mr Junaidu ‘Abusalma’ Abdullahi, a Kano-based TikToker, for mobilising mass protests over the country’s widespread hunger.”
The group said it backs the Amnesty International in demanding the immediate release of Mr Abdullahi, accusing the Nigerian government of punishing him for exercising his fundamental rights.
The release read, “The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release social media activist Junaidu Abdullahi (Abusalma), who was imprisoned in Kano for posting a viral TikTok video calling for a peaceful protest against widespread hunger across the country. #FreeAbusalma.”
HURIWA said peaceful demonstration was legitimate means of passing on a message from the citizens to the government on the way forward in the area of framing and implementation of economic, sociopolitical policies that would culminate in the enthronement of good governance and the strict adherence to the democratic and constitutional principles of transparency and accountability by government officials.
It added, “It is shameful that someone who claims to be speaking for a democratically constituted central government headed by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a tested civil society leader known to have organised, funded and participated in several pro-democracy protests in the past, is now pontificating like a tyrant in his opposition of civil protests.
“It is equally shameful to even recall that Mr. Bayo Onanuga is a trained journalist and yet he is the person who is deploying incendiary and unprintable terms in denunciation and repudiation of peaceful protests. Such a crying shame!
“It is a fact that the cost of living crisis has become highly combustible and most Nigerians are approaching the points of death,” the group ssid in the statement on Sunday.
“Why is this government driving people to their early grave with poor economic policies but yet doesn’t want the dying people to protest? This is wickedness at an unprecedented rate. This is absolutely reprehensible and despicable,” the group said.
HURIWA warned that if the government does not want people to protest peacefully then it is “directly telling the hungry and dying population to do their worst which might result in a very unpredictable and unpleasant turn of events.
“The government should chase after the black goat now that it is still daytime.”
