The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it welcomes the resolution of the UK Parliament to impose sanctions on officials of the present administration in Nigeria over human rights violations, including the alleged shooting and killing of peaceful protesters.
PDP stated this in a Wednesday statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.
The Petitions Committee of the UK Parliament on Monday called on the British government to commence an investigation into human rights abuses by the Nigerian government and security agencies on citizens during and after the #EndSARS protests.
The legislative arm also demanded the UK government to consider imposing sanctions on officials who are found culpable.
These sanctions range from visa bans to assets freezing as contained in an e-petition upon which the parliament’s Monday debate was based.
Reacting, the PDP said it applauded the UK Parliament’s resolution.
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“The PDP however urges the United Nations and other international bodies to immediately list indicted officials of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government for the widespread crime against humanity going on in our country in the last five years.
“Our party also urges the British Government to extend the proposed sanctions to include the freezing of assets and funds belonging to such officials and their families in the United Kingdom.
“We also call on other countries, including United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa among others to impose similar sanctions against indicted officials of the Buhari administration for human rights violations and crime against humanity,” the party stated.
It added that such sanctions should also be imposed on officials indicted for undermining the nation’s democracy and electoral system.
“The international community must call out President Buhari, as the buck stops on his table, as the Commander-in-Chief, under whose watch, human rights violations including arbitrary arrests and detention in dehumanizing facilities, widespread extrajudicial killings, sudden disappearances of dissenting voices, disregard to rule of law, disobedience to court orders and foisting of siege mentality on the citizenry, have become the order of the day.
“Indeed, the manifest use of brute force, including the deployment of the military with live ammunition, in addition to recruiting of armed thugs to attack and kill innocent Nigerian youths, who were in peaceful demonstration against widespread police brutality and other systemic injustices, underscores the horrible situation in Nigeria under President Buhari as detailed in earlier reports by Amnesty International and US Department of State among other international bodies.
“Is it not frightening that the Buhari Presidency has failed to come clean on who ordered the deployment of troops to Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, where unarmed demonstrators were shot and killed even while waving our national flag and singing our nation’s anthem?
“Is it not equally frightening that government has also failed to explain how armed thugs were seen being brought in security vans to unleash violence on demonstrators in Abuja and other parts of our country?
“Rather than providing answers to these troubling questions, the Federal Government is desperate to gag Nigerians, muzzle the press, shut down the social media and even threatening the international media including CNN for carrying out an investigative report on the Lekki killing, while its officials continue to make contradicting claims on the matter.
“Moreover, the administration had turned a deaf ear to the demand for an independent National Truth Commission on the killings. Such stance only points to desperation for a huge cover up in the face of demand for answers by Nigerians and the international community.
“Our party therefore urges the international community not to relent in standing for the Nigerian people at this critical time in our national history, particularly in ensuring respect to the rights of citizens and the sanctity of our electoral system,” the party further stated.
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