{"id":2492,"date":"2024-09-10T08:22:32","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T08:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=2492"},"modified":"2024-09-10T08:36:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T08:36:27","slug":"direct-dss-to-end-attack-against-us-serap-tells-tinubu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2024\/09\/10\/direct-dss-to-end-attack-against-us-serap-tells-tinubu\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct DSS To End Attack Against Us, SERAP Tells Tinubu As Amnesty International Condemns Invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amnesty International received a disturbing report of the unlawful invasion of the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) by operatives of DSS. President Bola Tinubu is going too far in his government\u2019s repressive efforts to gag dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government of President Bola Tinubu should immediately instruct the DSS to stop their harassment and intimidation of SERAP and any other civil society groups in Nigeria simply for carrying out their legitimate work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigerian authorities must end their escalating crackdown on civic space and independent human rights groups in the country, including through harassment, intimidation, and threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe invasion of SERAP\u2019s office by the DSS sends a chilling signal and prevents human rights organizations from carrying out their essential work to promote and protect human rights and accountability in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNigerian authorities must uphold their constitutional and international human rights obligations including concerning the rights to freedom of expression and association and end the growing impunity for violations of human rights in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu \u201cto immediately direct Nigeria\u2019s Department of State Services (DSS) to end the intimidation and harassment and attack against our organization and the threat of arrest against our directors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some officers from DSS today invaded our Abuja office. A tall, large, dark-skinned woman entered our office, accompanied by a slim, dark-skinned man. Other officers were sighted in two unmarked vehicles stationed outside our office. The officers who interrogated our official requested to see our directors.<\/p>\n

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The invasion of SERAP\u2019s office followed our call on Mr Tinubu and his government to direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to immediately reverse the illegal and unconstitutional increase in the pump price of petrol and to ensure the prompt and thorough investigation of alleged corruption and mismanagement in the NNPC.<\/p>\n

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In a statement today by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: \u201cWe condemn the invasion of our Abuja office today by Nigeria\u2019s Department of State Services (DSS). The Tinubu administration must immediately direct the DSS to end the intimidation and harassment of SERAP and our staff members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human rights lawyer and senior advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana said: \u201cWe condemn the invasion of SERAP\u2019s office. The Tinubu government must urgently fish out the officers who carried out the invasion of SERAP\u2019s office in the name of the government. Anyone found to be responsible for the invasion must be prosecuted. The government must allow human rights defenders to freely carry out their work, consistent with the Nigerian Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

SERAP\u2019s statement, read in part: \u201cThe invasion of SERAP\u2019s office by the DSS and the harassment and intimidation of our staff members is a brutal assault on the entire human rights community in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe escalating crackdown on human rights, and harassment and intimidation of NGOs and human rights defenders that have shown astonishing courage in their human rights work hurt those most in need, undermine access of Nigerian victims of human rights violations and abuses to justice, and contribute to a culture of impunity of perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis government has an obligation to support and protect civil society groups and human rights defenders. We are seriously concerned about the growing restrictions on civic space and the brutal crackdown on the human rights of Nigerians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Tinubu must urgently instruct appropriate authorities to promptly and thoroughly investigate the invasion of our offices and to bring to justice those involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNigerian authorities must allow SERAP to freely carry out our mandates as recognized under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNigerian authorities must end the harassment and intimidation attacks against SERAP and ensure the safety and security of our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Tinubu government does not take all necessary measures to immediately end the intimidation and harassment of SERAP or any other civil society group for that matter, SERAP will to take appropriate legal action nationally and internationally to challenge the brutal crackdown and hold the authorities to account for their constitutional and international human rights obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSERAP will continue to work to challenge any attempt to restrict, silence or eliminate the voices of credible civil society in the country. We urge the presidency to speak out strongly against intimidation and harassment of SERAP and our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and international human rights law, everyone whose rights are violated is entitled to a right to an effective remedy. Exposing human rights violations and seeking redress for them is largely dependent on the degree of security enjoyed by civil society groups and human rights defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile some may not like to hear some of the things SERAP has said, this in no way justifies the invasion of our office and harassment and intimidation of our staff members. The authorities should show commitment to protecting the right to freedom of expression and guarantee conditions for civil society to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amnesty International received a disturbing report of the unlawful invasion of the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) by operatives of DSS. President Bola Tinubu is going too far in...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2498,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions\/2498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}