Amnesty International yesterday knocked the Federal Government for arresting Nastura Sharif, who organised protests against the worsening insecurity in Katsina.
Isa Sanusi, the spokesman of the AI, urged the government to release Sharif who is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Coalition of Northern Groups.
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Earlier in a statement yesterday, Aminu Adam, the director of operations of the coalition, had said the police arrested Sharif after the Tuesday’s “peaceful protest.”
He said after the protest, the Katsina State Commissioner of Police, invited leaders of the group for an interactive session in his office.
Sanusi stated: “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” Sanusi maintained.
