A non-governmental organisation, Civil Rights Congress, has scored the President Muhammadu Buhari administration low in upholding the fundamental human rights of persons and respect for various international human rights treaties to which Nigeria is
signatory.
The acting President of the CRV, Nasir Abbas, gave the rating in an exclusive interview with The Point in Abuja. Abbas said that the failure of the Buhari government to respect human rights derived from the failure of the administration to embrace civility and democratic culture in tackling political issues.
“To be frank, the dictates of democracy are not being adhered to. Issues ought not to
be addressed with the principle of ‘Do-or-Die’,” he said. Although he said that the Presidency could not be blamed for the violence in Northern Nigeria, he challenged the Governor Nasir El-Rufai administration in Kaduna State to fulfill its security obligations to the people of state, especially in the wake of the killings by Fulani herdsmen.
Also, condemning the police over the ban on public campaigns by the #BringBackOurGirls
group among others, Abbas stressed the need for the Buhari administration to respect at
home the various international treaties to which Nigeria is signatory, stating that the respective treaties existed even before his government came to power.
“They exist to guard every government that comes to power,” he said. Recalling the killing of three sons of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheik El-Zakyzaky, the CRV acting president said, “At first, three of his sons were killed in a procession. This is intolerable.
They are grown up children, who must have been targeted and spotted by an enemy that subsequently masterminded their killings by the Army.” Abbas explained that it was clear that the victims were not armed, adding that the manner in which they were killed completely negated all rules guiding the imposition of a death penalty.
He said, “If they were found with guns, then they should have been prosecuted. “The penalty for being in unlawful possession of firearms may not have been death. “But the lads were not even armed. Government must make atonement and learn to keep faith with.the provisions of treaties it signed.”
Commenting on the killing of 150 civilians by the Joint Task Force during the Rivers State re-run election, Abbas said, “It is totally unacceptable, especially that it happened under the nose of a government that prides itself as an agent of change in a democracy.
“However, we must not be oblivious of the fact that the entire South-South, the North, South East have been very hot, each with its problem. “In the North, there is so much insecurity as a result of Boko Haram. In the South East, the MASSOB has taken up arms.
“We are not happy because the democracy we fought for is being overturned.”
