Anti-Amnesty protests as rights group seeks release of El-Zakzaky, retweets #RevolutionNow
NEWS DIGEST – Protests, allegedly sponsored by agents of the Nigerian government, have been staged at the Nigeria office of Amnesty International in Abuja, following rights group’s call for the release of detained Shi’ite leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
The Nigerian government reportedly placed the human rights group under security watch list for retweeting a message posted on the social media by the organisers of #RevolutionNow protests.
On Saturday morning, the convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, was picked by the State Security Service, SSS, operatives.
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“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,” an inside source told Punch.
“Amnesty International Nigeria Office retweeted that message. The issue with is not with the organisers really.
“Of course, the government has been having sleepless nights over consistent reports by Amnesty which have been projecting the government in a bad light.
“But 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. The Presidency is watching Amnesty Nigeria because of this.”
The Presidency is yet to react to the story, but Amnesty Nigeria Media Manager, Isa Sanusi, confirmed in a statement on Friday in Abuja that they were placed on the watch list by the Nigerian government.
