Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the escalating attacks on media outlets and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
On Monday, The New Daily Prime reported that the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and raided the office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in Abuja.
Reacting to these incidents and the unlawful detention of journalists under Tinubu’s government, Atiku, in a statement posted on his X page, described the assaults as deeply alarming.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) further asserted that the level of oppressive control being imposed surpasses even the harshest days of military dictatorship.
The statement partly read: “The recent arrest of Mr. Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, en route to an official event, epitomizes this regime’s relentless campaign to intimidate and subdue organized labour. Just days prior, security forces detained a journalist, only to later claim it was a grievous error. What if the outcome had been fatal?
“Now, Tinubu’s regime extends its repressive grasp to encroach upon SERAP, an action that stands as a grave affront to our democratic values. This siege is anathema to the principles of freedom and justice. It is imperative that Tinubu and his security apparatus redirect their fervor and intimidation towards the actual perpetrators of violence — terrorists and bandits — who are inflicting immeasurable suffering upon the Nigerian people.”In the past week, Atiku is not the only notable figure to have condemned the current administration’s actions against the media and civil society. Amnesty International and prominent human rights activists in Nigeria, such as Femi Falana and Deji Adeyanju, have also issued similar statements. It will be interesting to see how the Tinubu administration responds to these allegations.
