Ahead of the National Day of Survival protest slated for Tuesday, Amnesty International has called on the Kano police authorities to release unconditionally, the five activists detained in the State.
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 rights group gave the names of the detained activists as, Abdulmajid Yakubu Daudu, Yusha’u Sani Yankuzo, Amina Bello, Sani NaRogo, Comrade Anas and Comrade Abdullahi.
The Kano police have summoned the five for questioning but refused to allow them to return home, even as their phones were confiscated.
PremiumTimes reports that 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.
Their arrest and detention according to Amnesty International, is a proof of the Nigerian government's intolerant of dissenting views.
The group also noted that the arrest as a disturbing pattern of attack on free speech as guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution which guarantees the citizens’ right to freedom, and stated that “The authorities must guarantee their safety and allow them access to lawyers and family,”
The arrest of the activists, the group said, is a mark of repression against people exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
They added that, “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 PremiumTimes reporter on Tuesday.
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.
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