PRESS RELEASE
THE RIGHT TO VOTE SHOULD NOT MEAN A DEATH SENTENCE IN NIGERIA:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
on the
2015 Presidential Elections
As we have concluded the voting, collation and declaration exercise of the 2015 Presidential election, the Nigerian people are the heroes. Nigerians have demonstrated their commitment to exercise their right to vote by their turnout, patience and resilience during the voting process despite all the challenges and difficulties experienced.
However, the election exercise has turned into a death sentence for some Nigerians. About 53 people have been killed trying to exercise their right to vote, and no less than 100 people have been killed during the post-election period, mostly related to post-election celebrations . This is completely unacceptable,
says Ayodele Ameen, Executive Director of The Human Rights, Advancement, Development and Advocacy Centre (HURIDAC), an organisation that has been observing compliance of stakeholders to human rights standards during election.
The killings linked to reported cases of presumed terrorist attacks in Gombe, Yobe and Borno states show a record of 41 deaths. In addition, two extrajudicial executions have been reported in Rivers and Bauchi, while the rest of the deaths are attributed to politically motivated killings.
Human Rights violations have been reported to occur in all geographical zones of the federation. The analysis of these cases of violation of human rights by government agents shows that there are reduced violations compared to the previous elections, but human rights abuses committed by non-state actors continue to increase at an unacceptable level.
We are beginning to see an improved conduct of the security forces in most of the states, though we are still concerned about the conduct of security forces in some cases, especially the actions of the Police in Rivers and that of the Military in Edo, as well as some violations, by the DSS. ‘We have seen that the DSS has demonstrated more professionalism this time by taking the back seat contrary to the role they played in the Ekiti and Osun states elections’, Ayodele Ameen said.
The organisation notes that there has been one case of violation of freedom of expression by the police against a member of staff of Channels Television in Calabar and three cases of arsons, in Bauchi and Rivers state.
There were reported cases of violations of freedom of movement in a few states, and a few arbitrary arrests in Sokoto and Edo. However, the reported cases of arbitrary arrests and other violations by the security forces in Rivers State are completely unacceptable and call for further investigation.
There has been no report of DSS masked men intimidating voters as in previous elections, but there has been one reported case of a VIP moving around with military men in Edo state.
We note and commend efforts made by the Security forces to improve the conduct of their members, We however hasten to add that, they continue to remain mindful of their pre-election promises. The military promised to rid the North East of any potential terrorists within six weeks. Despite this offensive, we have lost about 41 lives to terrorist related attacks during these elections. The police promised non-partisanship and issued a human rights manual to its officers. Their conduct in Rivers state however, has not met the standards envisaged in this manual by far, and the promise to protect members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has failed to protect two NYSC members that lost their lives.
The huge inter-party conflicts resulting in about nine deaths, including the death of a soldier in Rivers State, still raises the need for the police to improve their election security management strategy.
The police now needs to investigate all these cases and bring to justice all perpetrators of human rights violations and other irregularities. All these reported deaths are preventable and we must learn the lessons from this process that integrating human rights into election management enhance the credibility of the electoral process
In all these cases, it is important to ensure that impunity is not allowed. The police has the responsibility to ensure attacks on police and military personnel are fully investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice. The police also has the responsibility to ensure that all victims of human rights violations and other abuses during this election not only get justice, but also redress and remedy, says Ayodele Ameen.
The organisation calls on all Nigerians to remain calm and shun any act of violence. We call on the security to improve on its record in the upcoming April 11 Gubernatorial election.
As a matter of urgency, the President-elect and his political party must continue to reach out to their members and supporters to tone down the celebration and avoid further loss of lives,
Signed:
Ayodele Ameen
Executive Director
HURIDAC
Lagos, Nigeria
2 April 2015
However, the election exercise has turned into a death sentence for some Nigerians. About 53 people have been killed trying to exercise their right to vote, and no less than 100 people have been killed during the post-election period, mostly related to post-election celebrations . This is completely unacceptable,
The killings linked to reported cases of presumed terrorist attacks in Gombe, Yobe and Borno states show a record of 41 deaths. In addition, two extrajudicial executions have been reported in Rivers and Bauchi, while the rest of the deaths are attributed to politically motivated killings.
Human Rights violations have been reported to occur in all geographical zones of the federation. The analysis of these cases of violation of human rights by government agents shows that there are reduced violations compared to the previous elections, but human rights abuses committed by non-state actors continue to increase at an unacceptable level.
We are beginning to see an improved conduct of the security forces in most of the states, though we are still concerned about the conduct of security forces in some cases, especially the actions of the Police in Rivers and that of the Military in Edo, as well as some violations, by the DSS. ‘We have seen that the DSS has demonstrated more professionalism this time by taking the back seat contrary to the role they played in the Ekiti and Osun states elections’, Ayodele Ameen said.
The organisation notes that there has been one case of violation of freedom of expression by the police against a member of staff of Channels Television in Calabar and three cases of arsons, in Bauchi and Rivers state.
There were reported cases of violations of freedom of movement in a few states, and a few arbitrary arrests in Sokoto and Edo. However, the reported cases of arbitrary arrests and other violations by the security forces in Rivers State are completely unacceptable and call for further investigation.
There has been no report of DSS masked men intimidating voters as in previous elections, but there has been one reported case of a VIP moving around with military men in Edo state.
We note and commend efforts made by the Security forces to improve the conduct of their members, We however hasten to add that, they continue to remain mindful of their pre-election promises. The military promised to rid the North East of any potential terrorists within six weeks. Despite this offensive, we have lost about 41 lives to terrorist related attacks during these elections. The police promised non-partisanship and issued a human rights manual to its officers. Their conduct in Rivers state however, has not met the standards envisaged in this manual by far, and the promise to protect members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has failed to protect two NYSC members that lost their lives.
The huge inter-party conflicts resulting in about nine deaths, including the death of a soldier in Rivers State, still raises the need for the police to improve their election security management strategy.
The police now needs to investigate all these cases and bring to justice all perpetrators of human rights violations and other irregularities. All these reported deaths are preventable and we must learn the lessons from this process that integrating human rights into election management enhance the credibility of the electoral process
In all these cases, it is important to ensure that impunity is not allowed. The police has the responsibility to ensure attacks on police and military personnel are fully investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice. The police also has the responsibility to ensure that all victims of human rights violations and other abuses during this election not only get justice, but also redress and remedy, says Ayodele Ameen.
The organisation calls on all Nigerians to remain calm and shun any act of violence. We call on the security to improve on its record in the upcoming April 11 Gubernatorial election.
As a matter of urgency, the President-elect and his political party must continue to reach out to their members and supporters to tone down the celebration and avoid further loss of lives,
Signed:
Ayodele Ameen
Executive Director
HURIDAC
Lagos, Nigeria
2 April 2015
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