The Chairman of Board of Trustee Amnesty International Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, on Sunday commended Nigerians for unanimously uniting against First Lady, Aisha Buhari, for her order to arrest a social media critic and 500-level student of Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, Aminu Mohammed.
Mohammed was arrested and detained by the Department of State Services, DSS, on the orders of the wife of the President over a social media post.
Aisha Buhari had deemed the post as defamatory against her person and instructed the secret police to go after Mohammed who was later tortured and detained without allowing him to see his parents or lawyers.
Mohammed’s arrest sparked off wide reactions from different quarters including the National Association of Nigerian Students, and many human rights groups threatening protests against the arrest and detention of the undergraduate.
It would be recalled that Mohammed had through his social media Twitter page posted on June 8, 2022, accused Aisha Buhari of feeding fat from Nigeria’s treasury.
His Hausa tweets read: “Su mama anchi kudin talkawa ankoshi”, translated to mean; “The mother has got fatter by eating masses’ money.”
The final-year student was arraigned and remanded before he was released on Friday night after Mrs Buhari withdrew the case against him.
Speaking on the release of Mohammed, Rafsanjani, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and head of Transparency International Nigeria, in a video message to Nigerians, commended them for coming out enmass to demand for the release and the respect of rights Mohammed.
“On behalf of Amnesty International Nigeria, I will let to thank Nigerians who have come out enmass demand for the release and respect of the rights of Aminu Mohammed, who was illegally arrested, detained, beaten up by some overzealous people.
“Amnesty International salute the courage of Nigerians and their resilience for the demand of the release of Aminu Mohamed.
“Amnesty International will continue to promote and defend the rights of every Nigerians. Many times some powerful individuals in Nigeria, connive with some security agencies to brutalize and undermine the fundamental right of Nigerians.
“This repression and oppression against Nigerian people especially the poor people must be resisted. There must be respectful rule of law.
” There must be respect for human rights of every Nigerian and we in Amnesty International will continue to promote and defend the rights of every Nigerian.” Rafsanjani said.
