Threats to our lives won’t stop us from speaking against abuses in Nigeria —Amnesty Int’l

Amnesty International has said that malicious threats against its staff and supporters would not stop it from condemning perceived human rights abuses in Nigeria.

The human rights group stated this while raising an alarm to threats against its staff in Nigeria by an unknown group.

The faceless group is said to have at a press conference held on November 4, in Abuja vowed to attack the international body over its stand on EndSARS protest and other perceived human rights abuses in Nigeria.

But in a post on its Twitter handle, @AmnestyNigeria, on Friday, the human rights group wrote:

“Amnesty International draws the attention of the Nigerian authorities and the general public to the intimidation and outright threats of attacks that were issued against its staff, supporters, and premises by a faceless and unknown group at a press conference held on 4 November 2020.”

“Similar faceless groups had previously invaded our office and given us an ultimatum to leave Nigeria. Amnesty International is a global human rights movement and we are independent of any government…

READ ALSO: You don’t run Nigeria, your report on Lekki shooting wrong, Presidency tells Amnesty Int’l

“The Nigerian authorities owe a legal duty to ensure the protection of lives and properties of every person in the country.

“Malicious threats will not deter us from continuing to speak against human rights violation and abuses by state and non-state actors.”

The group vowed that “despite threats to our lives, through faceless organizations and sponsored protests, we will not stay silent. In the face of efforts to evade responsibility or to smear our organization, we will continue to raise our voices whenever and wherever we see injustice.

“We will continue to call on the Nigerian government to use its authority and resources to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including; rape, torture, arbitrary detentions and unlawful killings.”

Amnesty has remained vocal in condemning the shooting of peaceful EndSARS protesters by soldiers in Lekki Lagos State and other clear human rights abuses in Nigeria.

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