A global rights group, Amnesty International, has charged security agencies to stop harassing and arresting Northern youths protesting against insecurity.
For days, young Northerners have continued to take to the streets to protest against the banditry and kidnapping in the region.
This has, however, attracted the outrage of security agencies which arrested and brutalised some of the protesters.
The protesters who trended hashtags such as: #SaveTheNorth; #NorthernLivesMatter; #NorthIsBleeding; #SecureOurLives; #EnoughIsEnough; and #NoMoreBloodShed, said they were fed up and could no longer fold their hands and watch their people being slaughtered by bandits.
They demanded an immediate end to the kidnappings and killings ongoing in the region and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to take decisive steps towards halting the gruesome trend.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Amnesty demanded the release of the young protesters.
The rights group said, “Amnesty International received disturbing reports from Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Zaria on arrests and crackdown by the police and the DSS on peaceful protests against rampant insecurity in northern Nigeria.
“We call on Nigerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested for exercising the right to freedom of assembly. The DSS must stop using ‘invitations’ to threaten and intimidate protests organisers.
“The protesters have done nothing more than speaking up for accountability. The arrests appear to be an attempt to intimidate and harass those who refused to be silent in the face of government’s failure to protect lives.”
We call on Nigerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested for exercising the right to freedom of assembly. The DSS must stop using âinvitationsâ to threaten and intimidate protests organizers.
— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) December 15, 2021
