Protesters on Friday stormed the Abuja office of a global human rights organisation, Amnesty International and demanded its immediate exit from Nigeria.
The protesters arrived at the office located at Maitama around 2 pm with various placards accusing the organisation of “attempting to destabilise Nigeria.”
Chanting disparaging songs, they also accused Amnesty International of being sponsored by the opposition, claiming that the human rights group was taking sides with the nation’s enemies.
The protest was sequel to reports that the group had been placed on security watch by the government for allegedly endorsing a planned nationwide protest by a coalition of civil society organisations.
The protest, tagged ‘RevolutionNow’, has been planned to hold on August 5 across the country.
But the Amnesty International said it would not be intimidated by protests against the organisation.
Reacting to the protest in a statement, it noted that it had been working in Nigeria since 1967 and would continue to hold the government accountable.
The statement read, “Amnesty International is a human rights organisation and not affiliated to any interests, political, religious or commercial. We have been working on Nigeria since 1967 – our role is to hold governments to their obligations to respect and protect human rights, and to ensure that anyone whose rights are violated has an effective remedy.
“For this reason, the organisation continues to call on the Nigerian government to use its authority and resources to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including of rape, torture, arbitrary detentions and unlawful killings, to ensure reparation for the victims, to hold the perpetrators accountable, and to ensure non-repetition of the violations.
“Despite sponsored protests, we will not stay silent. In the face of efforts to evade responsibility or to smear our organisation, we will continue to raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustice, sexual abuse, discrimination against women, or any other violations of human rights in Nigeria.”
