Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has condemned the reported use of excessive force on #RevolutionNow protesters in Abuja, Osogbo and other parts of the country, Wednesday.
Men of the Department of State Services had on Wednesday arrested Olawale Bakare and six other #RevolutionNow protesters in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
Several protesters were also arrested by the police and the Nigerian Army in the Abuja with teargas unleashed on the protesters.
Agba Jalingo, Publisher of Cross River Watch was also arrested in Lagos alongside others for staging the protest.
Condemning the attack, SERAP called on the government to end any attempt to stop “people to peacefully exercise their human rights.”
In a statement released by Deputy Director, SERAP, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “By failing to adequately protect protesters from violent attacks, Nigerian authorities have blatantly violated their obligations under the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
“Nobody should be arrested or subjected to torture and ill-treatment simply for taking part in peaceful protests. The authorities should stop criminalising peaceful protesters”
