Plan International has condemned the use of force on peaceful protesters by security operatives at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, Nigeria.
The independent development and humanitarian non-profit organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls – Plan International – disclosed this in a statement made available to the press on Thursday in Abuja.
“The use of brute force against young people who were exercising their rights to peaceful protest and making demands that could improve human rights and citizen participation is a huge draw back for a country that had experienced almost three decades of military authoritarian rule,” says Plan International Nigeria’s Country Director, Hussaini Abdu.
He added: “It is antithetical to democratic norms and capable of plunging the nation into anarchy.
“This unacceptable of state violence could stifle youth voices and further shrink the already injured civic space It is a major threat to democratic culture that young people are beginning to demonstrate.”
He called on the public to avoid any form of violence and destruction of public property, saying “It not only derails developmental gains made by the country, but also presents opportunity for politicians with corrupt tendencies to further help themselves from the public till.”
Abdu called on President Muhammadu Buhari and all political leaders across the 36 states of the country to engage with the youth and open up the political space for their effective participation, rather than the use of force as it had happened in Lekki, Lagos on 20th of October, 2020.
“No nation can make progress when the most significant segment of its population is being brutalised by security operatives who are paid to protect them,” he noted.
