Protest: Amnesty International demands release of activists detained in Kano

Amnesty International has called for the immediate and unconditional release of five activists detained by the police authorities in Kano State ahead of Tuesday’s National Day of Survival protest.

The rights group gave this call in a series of tweets on its office X handle on Monday, the eve of the  protest, which coincides with Nigeria’s Independence Day Anniversary.

The detained activists are Abdulmajid Yakubu Daudu, Yusha’u Sani Yankuzo, Amina Bello, Sani NaRogo, Comrade Anas and Comrade Abdullahi.

On Monday, the police in Kano State summoned the five of them for questioning but refused to allow them to return home and confiscated their phones.

The activists, who are of the Nigeria Patriotic Front Movement (NPFM), were arrested for championing the 1 October protest, tagged, National Day of Survival protest, in the state.

Amnesty International said their arrest and detention show that the Nigerian government is intolerant of dissenting views.

“The authorities must guarantee their safety and allow them access to lawyers and family,” parts of the statement stated.

The statement also described the arrest as a disturbing pattern of attack on free speech as guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution which guarantees the citizens’ right to freedom.

It added that, the arrest of the activists is a mark of “repression against people exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.”

The international organisation also called for an end to the targeting of activists for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

“The Nigerian authorities must allow everyone in the country to freely exercise their human rights as guaranteed by Nigeria’s constitution and international human rights obligations,” it said.

The spokesperson for the police in Kano State, Abdullah Kiyawa, did not speak on the issue when contacted by our reporter on Tuesday. Mr Kiyawa initially answered our reporter’s call, but ended it as soon as the reporter introduced the subject. He had not answered subsequent calls or replied subsequent text message from our reporter as of press time.

The protest

The National Day of Survival protest follows the 10-day #EndBadGovernance held across many states and Abuja in August.

On Tuesday, many Nigerians took to the streets, particularly in Lagos, to protest against the rising cost of living in Nigeria under the President Tinubu-led administration, the same issues that sparked the August’s protest.

The protesters said on Tuesday that Mr Tinubu has inflicted unprecedented hardship on millions of Nigerians and “pushed many into poverty and hardship.”

The protesters also condemned the recent hike in the price of petrol, saying the situation has reached an alarming level, with prices hovering between over N900 and N1,900 per litre, depending on the region.

The group referred to the significant rise in the cost of goods as having rendered many traders and shopkeepers helpless.