As you are aware, President Muhammadu Buhari is on his way to the United States, the home of democracy, whereas back home in Nigeria his administration has completely wrecked our democratic order, eroded constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens while foisting a siege mentality on our people.
We have called you here to alert the entire world, particularly, the United States, that our nation is now on the brink.
Nigeria is facing a perilous time; our constitution has been technically suspended; we have now become a Police State; governance has reverted to the nightmares of the 1984 era, when draconian leaders held sway and forcefully held our people under the grips of military Decree 2.
Currently, there is a total collapse of respect for constitutionally guaranteed personal freedom; there is no regard for natural course of justice, life in Nigeria is gradually returning to the state of nature and there is fear everywhere.
Today, Nigerians are being hounded, arrested and directly detained on ‘order from above’, without warrant; citizens are locked up in dehumanizing detention centres without access to medical care and legal assistance, just for holding political opinions that run contrary to the views of those in power at the center.
There are preponderance instances of citizens’ detention in special police and military facilities for weeks, months and in some cases, many years without trial. Nigerians are daily falling victims of extreme torture, extra-judicial and arbitrary killings and mass burial by unrestrained agents of state security forces.
You will recall that the 2017/2018 Amnesty International (AI) Human Rights Report confirmed cases of extreme human right violations under the Buhari administration, including extra-judicial execution, forceful crackdown on peaceful protesters as particularly witnessed in the southeast between September 2017 and January 2018 as well as torture and killings in custody. Many arrested protesters are still in detention without trial.
The Bring Back our Girls organization that freely protested unmolested in 2014 and 2015 are today hounded and manhandled wherever and whenever they dare to come to out on a peaceful protest.
The recent US Government’s report on human rights violation in Nigeria also confirmed cases of harassments, persecution of opposition, arrests, detention and extra-judicial killings under President Buhari’s administration. Indeed, the height of human rights abuse being witnessed in our country today is the worst in our national contemporary history.
As we speak, government’s inaction and aloofness have led to escalation of killings in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Kogi, Kaduna, Borno, Yobe, Nasarawa, Edo, Zamfara, Ekiti, Enugu by insurgents and marauders, who are having a field day as the Presidency has abandoned governance for 2019 re-election bid.
Painfully, our democratic institutions, particularly the legislature, judiciary and even the media are being decapitated by dictatorial forces who are encouraged by the agents of the state at the center.
You will all recall that on April 18, 2018, that a barefaced and historical attempt was made to shut down our National Assembly following lawmakers’ insistence on following due process in governance and government business.
We all are witnesses to how security architecture at the National Assembly was compromised by agents of the state, to allow a wanton gang of men to invade the hallowed chambers of the Senate in broad daylight to harass and threaten senators, disrupting proceedings and carting away the mace.
