He said the activists commited no offence known to law, adding that their arrest and torture were callous, illegal and have no legal basis and justification.
A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong has faulty the
arrest and torture of six human rights activists by the security operatives
attached to the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (Glory Dome), along Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport Road, Abuja for wearing T-shirts with
#BuhariMustGo inscription to the church.
He said the activists commited no offence known to law, adding that their arrest and torture were callous, illegal and have no legal basis and justification.
He disclosed this on his Facebook page while reacting to
the development which many Nigerians have condemned and described as laughable.
He added that it is obvious that political dissent has
been criminalised under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led regime.
He described as troubling that the Church could descend
to the point of getting citizens arrested for wearing #BuhariMustGo T-shirts to
attend service.
He said, "We've to decide whether to live in a
democratic country or under dictatorship. The Church has no business
discriminating against people on the basis of their political views. If those
activists wore T-shirts with the inscription 'Buhari beyond 2023', would
they've been arrested?
"It is more troubling that those arrested were
handed over to the SSS (State Security Service also known as Department of
State Services). How did we get so low as a country? The civic space is
shrinking by the day. Buhari will eventually leave that position but the damage
that has been done to our country and civic space will persist after him.
"Dr Paul Enenche should know that this scandal will
not be forgotten in a hurry. It's totally indefensible. Christianity is not
about persecution.
"If the same church can open its doors to corrupt
politicians, why should it punish those who are exercising their right to free
speech?"
He, therefore, called for the immediate release and
compensation of the activists for the degrading treatments meted out to them.
SaharaReporters had reported how the activists were
rounded up after leaving the church premises and handed over to the operatives
of Department of State Services (DSS) who whisked them away to an unknown
destination.
They were illegally detained and tortured at the church
security post before they were handed over to the operatives.
It was gathered that the Senior Pastor of the church,
Enenche had ministered to first-timers, including the activists while church
officials also handed over some souvenirs to them and administered holy
communion on them at the alter.
The security operatives confiscated the mobile phones of
the activists and forced them to delete the livestream video clips.
Buhari's government has continued to clamp down down on
civic and media space.
It has also repeatedly exhibited open aversion to dissenting and opposing voices.
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