Politics
As the world marked the Human Rights Day on Monday, Shehu Sani, who represents the Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the Senate, said Nigeria had nothing to celebrate.
The senator said the citizens should rather be mourning, decrying that the country’s human rights record was very poor, hence giving no room for celebration.
“We shouldn’t be celebrating Human Rights Day today. We should rather be mourning, or at least commiserate with ourselves. Nigeria’s human rights situation is not yet in a casket or on a stretcher, but it’s definitely on a wheelchair,” the lawmaker said via his verified Twitter handle, @ShehuSani.
Sani said the spate of human rights abuse was too high in this dispensation, citing disobedience to court orders, brutalisation of protesters, among others.
“There is a prevalence of human rights abuses here: Disobedience to court orders, spate of arrest of [government] critics, use of hate speech to stifle free speech on social media, brutalisation of protesters, violation of right to life, misuse of armed personnel during elections and terrorism,” he added.
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has often been criticised for disregard for court orders, particularly in reference to a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), who has been kept in detention since 2015 despite numerous court orders granting him bail.
Similarly, under the Buhari administration, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenah, have been detained by the Department of State Services since December 2015 despite court orders granting their release.
Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, the Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 every year.
The 2018 edition marked the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language or political affiliation.
With the theme for 2018 being, “Stand Up For Human Rights,” the United Nations echoed the message that “all human beings are born free and equal, in dignity and rights.” – Punch
– Dec. 10, 2018 @ 19:09 GMT |
Tags: Human Rights Day: Nigeria has nothing to celebrate says Sani
