A cluster of 16 civil society organisations have condemned the continued detention and harassment of civil society leaders in Niger Republic allegedly on the order of President Mahammadou Issoufu.
In a press statement in Kano, the representative of the cluster, Malam Isah Garba, said for the past three years, civil society activists in Niger Republic had come under siege from state actors in a crackdown that has led to series of convictions lamenting that the context has been the rising poverty in the country and the increasingly authoritarian response of the State and its security agencies.
According to him, the latest wave of arrest followed the demonstration of thousands of Nigerians against the austerity measures encapsulated in the 2018 budget, which precipitated the raid carried out on offices of notable Civil Society Organizations, leading to the arrest of 23 of their leaders.
He said the cluster was also drawing the attention of the international community to the significant decline of democratic culture in Niger Republic due to the rise in authoritarianism and attack on the rule of law by President Muhammadou Issifou.
While calling on the good citizens of Niger Republic to continue with the struggle for the defence of democratic and civil rights, Garba further revealed that the coalition was calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to in the spirit of good neighborliness intervene in securing the release of the detained activists. Meanwhile, some members of the cluster, led by Malam Isah Garba, were yesterday barred from entering the Nigerien Consular mission in Kano to formally present a letter of complaint to the Consular officer, despite the earlier letter of appointment, the civil society organisations sent to the consul, which was duly acknowledged.
