In a bid to assess the human rights situation in Nigeria, Citizens Center for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR) has participated at the workshop organised by Network On Police Reforms In Nigeria (NOPRIN FOUNDATION), a network of 49 civil society organisations spread across Nigeria, to promote law enforcement accountability and responsible policing, to have a situation report on the Human Rights challenges in Nigeria.
The program which held in Enugu on 30th November, 2018 took a state by state report from members on Human Rights Situations in Nigeria. Members gave almost the same accounts of police abuse of Rights of persons. A special note was taken in the case of events in Aba where police is being used to effect revenue collections by Abia State government institutions/agencies and wrongful arrests of people in groups and they are made to bail themselves at huge expense.
The house was informed of the multiplicity of police road blocks which have become points of extortion and Human Rights Abuses by law enforcement agencies in the South East. The case of Ekeukwu Owerri demolition, killing of Somtochukwu, forced under payment of retirees and forceful eviction of retired teaches of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri among other Human Rights abuses in Imo State came handy.
The workshop dealt with some basic ethics in monitoring and documenting Human Rights cases, principles of documenting Human Rights violations and process of interviewing. The workshop also noted some of the threats defenders of Civil Rights are faced with in doing their work, some of which are, threat of arrest, attack on family and attack on self.
The Program Director of Citizens Center for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR), Igwe Chidi was on hand to make the position of the organization known, which was not far from the issues mentioned above. Citizens Center for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR), was also in Lagos for Election Strategy And Coordination Retreat held on the 4th -5th November, the meeting had the review of national political environment leading up to the 2019 general elections by taking reports from states and their issues, scenarios around the elections, including security, INEC preparations and civil society, understanding the role of the Situationroom in 2019 elections and Information technology and managing real time response/communication brought to limelight.
