Amnesty condemns police blockade of ‘Tinubu-Must-Go’ event in Kano

Amnesty International Nigeria has condemned the alleged blocking of a “Tinubu-Must-Go” event in Kano State, accusing the police of violating the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

The human rights organisation disclosed this in a post on its X platform on Sunday, saying heavily armed police officers blocked both ends of the road leading to the venue of the event.

Amnesty described the action as an unlawful restriction on peaceful political activities and called on the Nigeria Police Force to desist from what it termed a reckless violation of human rights.

“The Nigeria Police must desist from such reckless violation of human rights. It is perfectly within the rights of supporters of all candidates and all political parties to carry out peaceful political activities,” the organisation said.

It maintained that the police had a responsibility to facilitate peaceful political gatherings, regardless of the political party or candidate being supported or opposed.

“The duty of the police is to facilitate peaceful conduct of such political gatherings — no matter the political party or candidate being supported or opposed,” Amnesty said.

The organisation stressed that freedom of association and peaceful assembly was not exclusive to any political party or its supporters.

It further described the Kano incident as part of what it called a troubling pattern of police repression targeting opposition members in different parts of the country.

According to Amnesty, repeated attacks and intimidation against opposition supporters could undermine their ability to associate freely and organise peaceful public gatherings.

The organisation did not provide further details about the event or the police operation in its post.