SERAP wants Commonwealth to sanction Nigeria over attacks on #EndSARS protesters

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has told the Commonwealth to hold Nigerian authorities to account for widespread and persistent attacks on protesters, reports of human rights violations and abuses, corruption, impunity and disregard for the rule of law.

It wrote the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland QC, urging her to use her “leadership position to apply the Commonwealth Charter.”

The organization asked Scotland to “urgently consider recommending the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth to the Heads of Government, the Commonwealth Chair-in-office, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of the Commonwealth, to push the government to respect the Commonwealth’s values of human rights, transparency, accountability and the rule of law.”

In the Urgent Appeal dated 10 October 2020 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Such action by the Commonwealth will be commensurate with the gravity of the human rights situation in the country. A government that attacks its own citizens for peaceful protests severely undermines its credibility as a democratic regime that respects human rights and the rule of law.”

According to SERAP, “Respect for Commonwealth values is essential for citizens to trust Commonwealth institutions. The Commonwealth ought to make clear that respect for human rights, transparency and the rule of law is fundamental to the integrity, functioning and effectiveness of its institutions.”