Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja
The Presidency has placed a rights group, Amnesty International Nigeria, under security watch, The PUNCH learnt on Thursday.
The organisation is being watched to determine its interest in a nationwide “revolution” protest being planned for August 5 and being promoted through the hashtag #RevolutionNow.
A competent government source disclosed this to our Correspondent on the condition of anonymity.
The official said the government was surprised that the organisation reproduced a message posted on the social media by the organisers of the protest.
He said the decision to put the organisation on watch list was based on its past “anti-government posture.”
The government official said, “There is a hashtag calling for revolution.
“A revolution means to overthrow Nigeria’s Constitution.
“Those behind the move have sent out messages that they will start the revolution on August 5 all over this country.
“Amnesty International Nigeria office retweeted that message. The issue is not with the organisers really.
“But it is surprising that Amnesty International Nigeria retweeted a message calling for a revolution and overthrowing of the nation’s Constitution. The government of Nigeria found this very shocking.
“Of course, the government has been having sleepless nights over consistent reports by Amnesty, which have been projecting the government in bad light.
“However, for the organisation to get involved in national politics and retweet such a message is alarming.
“When a Presidency official asked them whether their Twitter handle was hacked, they deleted the tweet after a few hours.
“The Presidency is watching Amnesty Nigeria because of this.”
The message, #RevolutionNow, has been trending online.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, could not be reached on the telephone for comment as of the time of filing this report.
See two of the tweets that the government complained about:
2. Authorities must respect the rights of #RevolutionNow movement to assemble and seek for freedom and just without fear or any intimidation. Nigeria belongs to all of us.
— Amnesty Int. Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) July 31, 2019
Building #Nigeria of our dream starts now. Bravery is all it takes to fight injustice, inequality and all other threats to freedom. #BeBRAVE pic.twitter.com/pnkM7SPoFa
— Amnesty Int. Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) July 27, 2017
