The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to muzzle
dissent by arresting and intimidating journalists and protesters, Amnesty
International said in a statement on Wednesday.
The London-based rights group cites examples of police blocking peaceful
protests. Those protests include activists demanding the government rescue
more than 200 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, Shiite Muslims demanding the
release of their long-detained leader and separatists calling for an
independent Biafra in the southeast.
The statement Wednesday says Amnesty has documented cases of enforced
disappearances and killings of pro-Biafra supporters by security forces.
It also cites the detention of several journalists critical of officials
in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Amnesty says the intimidation appears to be “a barefaced attempt by the
Nigerian government to muzzle dissenting voices.”
It urges the government to halt detentions without trial and the excessive
use of force. AP