Amnesty International Nigeria has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to stop the passage of bills targeted towards restricting free speech in the country.
Osai Ojigho, the Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, made this call while speaking at the Human Rights Festival 2019 in Abuja on Wednesday.
She stressed that Nigerian authorities must “stop the passage of the Social Media Bill, Hate Speech Bill and other Bills that will restrict and punish freedoms of assembly, association, free speech and liberty.”
Amnesty International Nigeria also demanded the unconditional release of Omoyele Sowore, a Nigerian human rights activist who was rearrested last week in Abuja.
Also, it tasked the FG to thoroughly investigate allegations of violations committed by Nigerian security forces while also releasing all reports of public investigations carried out on Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Nigerian military and other incidents where human rights violations had been alleged.
Speaking about the Human Rights Festival 2019, Ojigho said it was in commemoration of the International Human Rights Day.
She emphasized that it was the vision of Amnesty International to create a world where every person is able to enjoy the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instrument.
“Our focus for International Human Rights Day for 2019 is young people and human rights activism,” Ojigho said.
According to her, the topic was even more timely now that more than 11.1 million Nigerian youths were unemployed as at 2012, a quarter of Nigerian population out of work and 20 percent is underemployed.
