Amnesty International Nigeria has reacted to a threat issued by a Nigeria group to vacate the country saying it would not be deterred to stop speaking on human rights abuses by state and non-state actors in the country.
A group, Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights had asked Amnesty International to leave Nigeria within seven days, threatening to kill all the organisation’s workers and burn down their Lagos and Abuja offices if they refused to leave the country.
The threat by the group followed revelations by Amnesty International that at least 12 persons were killed by the Nigerian Army during the shooting of peaceful #ENDSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate area of Lagos on October 20.
Responding in a statement on Friday, Amnesty International said this is not the first time it has been given an ultimatum to vacate the country by faceless groups in Nigeria who have equally invaded their offices in the country.
Amnesty International also affirmed its position as a human rights organization which it said is not affiliated to any government, ideology, interests, political, religious or commercial groups.
It said: “Amnesty International draws the attention of the Nigerian authorities and the general public to the intimidation and outright threats of attacks that were issued against its staff, supporters, and premises by a faceless and unknown group at a press conference held on 4 November, 2020.
“Similar faceless groups had previously invaded our office and given us an ultimatum to leave Nigeria. Amnesty International is a global human rights movement and we are independent of any government.
“Our mandate is to hold authorities to account for their human right obligations and commitments. This we have consistently done since June 1967 when we first started working in Nigeria.
“Every person whose rights are violated is entitled to an effective remedy.
“Malicious threats will not deter us from continuing to speak against human rights violations and abuses by state and non-state actors,” the group said.
Amnesty also said exposing human rights violations and seeking redress for them are largely dependent on the degree of security enjoyed by civil society groups.
It stressed that the government owes the people a legal duty to ensure the protection of lives and properties of every person in the country.
