Amnesty International is not against government – Official

Government

By Christian Njoku

Calabar, June 11, 2024 (NAN) Mr Gabriel Aniabi, Cross River Coordinator, Amnesty International, Nigeria says the organisation is independent of any government, political ideaology and economic interests.

Aniabi who spoke during the inauguration of a Human Rights Clinic in the University of Calabar (UniCal) said the organisation is not anti government nor being sponsored by any.

The coordinator said Amnesty International is for everyone and had at some point,  saved some great Nigerians such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Fela Ransome- Kuti, and Agba Jalingo among others.

He said Amnesty International became handy when people needed somebody to speak for them in protection of their rights when they were being violated.

According to him, ”we have  to beam our searchlights on Nigerian Universities after the disturbing trend of sex for grades was exposed by a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporter few years ago.”

“This spurred Amnesty International to take this fight against human rights to the universities to enable the students know what their rights are, how to stand up for their rights and channels they can pass through to access justice,” he said.

On her part, Prof. Florence Obi, Vice Chancellor of UniCal said she was very pleased with the human rights training of the students in the institution.

Represented by Prof. Anthony Eyang, Dean of Student Affairs, Obi said she is a strong promoter of justice and human rights

She noted that  training of the students was in tandem with the environment she was working hard to establish in UniCal.

“With over 40,000 students and 7,000 staff, there will be issues among people, so, I hope that those of the students that have been trained by Amnesty International in this clinic will shine their  light on campus in promoting human rights and justice,” she said.

Similarly, Miss Nwaobi Obioma, President of Amnesty International, Human Rights Clinic in UniCal said as a group in the institution, they wanted to ensure that whenever they heard  complaints of human rights abuses it was promptly investigated.

Obioma said with their link with Amnesty Nigeria and Amnesty International, they wanted to ensure that justice was effectively served, adding that, they hoped to reduce human rights violations in the institution to the bearest minimum.

“We will carryout lots of campaigns,  advocacies and debates  to sensitise people on the issues of human rights abuses.

“We will also ensure that sexual abuses,  discrimination from associations and segregation are parts of issues we will look into,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the clinic is entitled:  “Empowering Students: Understanding and Asserting Your Human Rights on Campus.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

CBN/CHOM/EAL

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Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Ekemini Ladejobi

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