Amnesty International Nigeria Decries Alleged Threats to Corps Member
Yinka Olatunbosun
Amnesty International Nigeria has strongly condemned the alleged threats and intimidation directed at a lady who posted a TikTok video lamenting the current escalating economic hardship.
The lady alleged that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) officials, in a telephone call, threatened her for refusing to delete the video.
“It is perfectly within her right to express discontent peacefully,” Amnesty International wrote. “Instead of threatening her for her opinions on rampant inflation, the authorities should be prioritizing addressing the country’s economic woes.
“Millions of people in Nigeria are facing extreme poverty. So far, the authorities have failed to put in place effective mitigation measures, leaving millions of people without the hope of getting out of the economic challenges and enjoying their human rights.”
Amnesty International urged concerned authorities to stop responding with violence and threats to individuals and groups for expressing dissenting opinions, describing it as an “utter disregard for Nigerian constitution and international law”.
A serving corps member in Lagos State raised an alarm about the outrageous prices of goods and services in Nigeria.
“I am coming from a supermarket where I went to get stuff, and everything has gone up again. It’s like every single week, prices keep increasing. I want to know, what is the government doing about this increase? Is there going to be a particular time when prices will stop going up?” the corps member stated.
She called out President Bola Tinubu for not stemming the tide of inflation and her rant was met by mixed reactions.
While some cautioned her for using strong language, others praised her for being courageous in expressing the daily agony of most Nigerians.
Indeed, her situation has sparked a hashtag movement #30DayRantChallenge for frustrated Nigerians to express their anger and disappointment with the current state of affairs in the country.
