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Amnesty Intl urges Nigerian govt to release organizer of Katsina protest
Rights watchdog, Amnesty International, Wednesday condemned the arrest of one Nastura Sharif, who allegedly organized a series of protests against the Federal Government in Katsina a few days ago.
Sharif is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Coalition of Northern Groups.
A group of protesters had protested the killing of innocent people by bandits and other criminal elements in the state.
Irked by the killing of an unspecified number of people in one of the communities in the state, the protesters damaged billboards and posters of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The presidency had also on Tuesday knocked the group for the statements on the current administration, saying they would have been met with harsh retribution from a dictatorial government.
READ ALSO: Police arrests CNG leader for allegedly spearheading Katsina protests against Buhari
The Amnesty spokesman in the state, Isa Sanusi, in a chat with journalists urged the government to immediately release the CNG chairman.
He said: “Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Nastura Ashir Sharif who has done nothing more than speak up in defence of people’s right to life and calling for an end of the rising insecurity across northern Nigeria.
“He was simply asking the authorities to do their job. His arrest appears to be an attempt to intimidate and harass both him and others peacefully exercising freedom of assembly and expression. Protest is not a crime, it is a right. Subjecting activists to such arbitrary arrest is a violation of Nigerian and international human rights laws.”
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