Amnesty International Nigeria has condemned the unjustly arrest and conviction of two leaders of the #EndBadGovernance protests in Katsina State.
Demanding their immediate release, the organization in a tweet said the two leading activists, Kabir Shehu ‘Yandaki and Habibu Ruma were just exercising their constitutional rights and therefore all charges levelled against them have to be dropped.
According to it, the unjust arrest and manipulation of the judiciary to punish the two leaders for carrying out peaceful protests is a clear violation of their rights as enshrined by the constitution.
“Amnesty International strongly condemns the manipulation of the judiciary to punish activists Kabir Shehu ‘Yandaki and Habibu Ruma for leading peaceful protests against hunger and corruption in Katsina. We urge the authorities to drop bogus charges against them and release them”.
“Activists Kabir and Habibu should never have been arrested, in the first place. Authorities must allow the activists to freely carry out their activities without any harassment, intimidation, or fear of reprisals. The Nigerian authorities must respect and uphold human rights”, it said.
It however, called on the President Bola Tinubu and Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State to end what it termed as unlawful clampdown on peaceful protesters.
In a swift response, Governor Radda said his administration has no hand in the arrest and prosecution of the protests leaders.
Isah Miqdad, the governor’s media Aide said the two leaders were arrested and prosecuted by the police not his principal.
“Hey Amnesty International, please refrain from mentioning Gov @dikko_radda here. The Nigeria Police Force detained them and later took them to court. Please take note”, replied Miqdad.
Recall that Yandaki and Ruma were arrested by the police on day two of the protests, they were later prosecuted and remanded until September 11th.
