127 civil society groups set date for mass action against Buhari’s govt

127 civil society groups set date for mass action against Buhari’s govt

127 civil society groups set date for mass action against Buhari’s govt

No fewer than 127 civil society groups in Nigeria on Sunday fixed May 26 for nationwide mass action against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to stop the bleeding and carnage in Nigeria.

The groups, under the aegis of Joint Action Civil Society Coalition lamented that following its sharp increase of 43% in mass atrocities 2020, Nigeria has continued to experience a decline in security across the nation.

They said in the first quarter of 2021, the nation had recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2,000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country, saying that this week, across the 6 geopolitical zones, there were escalated combustions of violence resulting in even more deaths.

“In our last joint statement, we had issued in February 2021, we had catalogued the assortment of mass atrocities plaguing the country, in particular: The unending war in the North East with our troops often bearing the brunt of this government’s security failures.

“Gross injustices by President Buhari’s government against the Nigerian people such that peaceful protesters are threatened and attacked by the government’s security agents while terrorists carrying out mass murder, rape, maiming and kidnapping of Nigerians including women and children are feted, molly coddled, granted ‘amnesty’ and paid by the government.

“This is tantamount to funding and supporting terrorists, encouraging murder and the decimation of the Nigeria’s gallant troops and amounts to treason against the Nigerian State and people.

“Terrorist herder attacks on unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of government inaction and failure to bring the terrorist herdsmen and their funders to justice,” the groups said.

They lamented large scale terrorist attacks in the North West irresponsibly tagged by the government as ‘banditry’ in a bid to downplay their criminality, industrial scale kidnappings all across the country, extrajudicial killings by State Security agents in various forms and inter-ethnic violence and the menace of political cult gangs and ethnic militia.

The groups demanded that Buhari end impunity for abuse of power and sectionalism through his appointments by balancing the need for competence with the federal character principle.

“In this way, he will demonstrate that every part of Nigeria matters as sectional appointments appear to fuel sectional violence.

“He should take responsibility and end the persecution of the media and free speech both of which are foundations of a democratic state. Mobilize our rich Nigerian assets to address the insecurity situation across the country and seek international cooperation to ramp up security assets.

“We had also demanded that where the President fails to fulfill his constitutional duties as stated above, that he steps aside, or, that the National Assembly initiates impeachment proceedings against him on grounds of gross misconduct as provided for in Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” they said.

The groups said they were appalled to note that despite their strongly worded statement, President Buhari’s government has failed to heed their call to fulfill his role as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Nigeria’s democratically elected President.

“We are therefore left with no other option than to take action to drive home our call to the government.

“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians to register their displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by participating a series of mass actions from Monday the 26th of May 2021, participate in solemn assemblies across the country to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28th 2021 and boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29, 2021 in protest of the deplorable state of our democracy.

“We again call on Muhammadu Buhari led national government and the state governments to rise up to their constitutional duties as enshrined in S14 (2)(b), to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians, and pull the nation back from the path of destruction,” they demanded.

Below are the civil society groups

1. #DoNigeriaRight

2. Action Aid

3. Adinya Arise Foundation

4. Adopt A Goal for Development Initiative

5. Advocacy Center for Development

6. African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD)

7. African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)

8. All-4-One Humanity Development Foundation

9. Alliances for Africa

10. Ayodeji Fadugba

11. Baobab for Women’s Human Rights

12. Bauchi Human Rights Network

13. Benevolent Initiative for Development

14. Benue We Deserve (BenDef)

15. Bimbo Odukoya Foundation (BOF)

16. Black Diamonds Support Foundation

17. CAFSO-WRAG for Development

18. Cece Yara Foundation.

19. CedarSeed Foundation

20. CEE-HOPE Nigeria

21. Center for Nonviolence and Gender Advocacy in Nigeria

22. Center for Women’s Health and Information (CEHWIN)

23. Centre for Accountability and Inclusive Development (CAAID)

24. Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), West Africa

25. Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED)

26. Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)

27. Centre for Liberty

28. Centre for Nonviolence and Gender Advocacy in Nigeria (CENGAIN)

29. Centre for Transparency Advocacy ( CTA)

30. Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN)

31. CITAD

32. Citizens Assistance Center

33. Civil Society Coalition on Sustainable Development

34. Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)

35. Civil Society Partnership for Development Effectiveness

36. Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution

37. Community Women’s Rights Foundation

38. COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding

39. Concerned Nigerians

40. Connected Advocacy for Empowerment and Youth Development Initiative

41. Connected Development (CODE)

42. Conscience for human Rights and conflict Resolution (CHRCR)

43. Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA)

44. Crime Victims Foundation

45. Daria Media Foundation

46. Dinidari Foundation

47. Disabled People in Leadership Initiative

48. Dorothy Njemanze Foundation(DNF)

49. Dr. Aderonke Adesanya

50. Dr. Fatima T. Lawson

51. Echoes of Women in Africa Initiatives

52. Elixir Trust Foundation

53. Emerge Women Development Initiative (EWDI)

54. Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria

55. Equality Through Education Foundation (ETEF)

56. Esan Women Movement

57. FACICP Disability Plus

58. FEMBUD

59. First Future Leadership

60. Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy & Development (FENRAD Nigeria)

61. Free Nigeria Movement

62. Gender Development Initiative

63. Global Rights

64. Grassroots Development Monitoring and Advocacy Centre

65. Greenspring Development Initiative

66. Hallmark Leadership Initiative

67. HEDA Resource Centre

68. House of Justice

69. Human Rights Advocacy & Monitoring Group (HURAMG)

70. Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Development (IRIAD)

71. Initiative for Social Development in Africa

72. International Center for Human Rights, Nonviolence And Safety Awareness

73. Justice for Peace and Development Initiative (JPDI)

74. Kebetkatche Women Development and Resource Center

75. Keen and Care Initiative (KCI)

76. Lagos Women 2030

77. Laila St.Matthew-Daniel

78. Learning Through Skills Acquisition Initiative (LETSAI)

79. Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)

80. Legal Resources Consortium (LRC)

81. Lex Initiative for Rights Advocacy and Development (LIRAD)

82. Lillian Okenwa

83. M.O.N Legal

84. Maria Ebun Foundation

85. Media and Teens Network

86. Media Concern Initiative

87. Molluma Medico-Legal Center

88. Mowalek Centre for Sustainable Community Development

89. Neighbourhood Environment Watch Foundation.

90. Network of Disabled Women

91. Niger Accountability Group

92. Nigerian Feminist Forum

93. Nigerian Women Trust Fund

94. Online HubNG

95. Open Bar Initiative

96. Organization for Community Civic Engagement (OCCEN), Nigeria

97. Pan African Young Women Development Initiative (PAYWODI)

98. Partners West Africa – Nigeria

99. Policy Alert

100. Prison Inmate Development Initiative PIDI-NIGERIA

101. Professor Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome

102. Project Alert on Violence Against Women

103. Raising New Voices Initiative

104. Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED)

105. Responsible Citizenship and Human Development Initiative, Gombe.

106. Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC)

107. SBM Intelligence

108. Sesor Empowerment Foundation

109. Socio Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC)

110. South-South Professional Women Association ( SSPWA)

111. Support Initiative for Sustainable Development (SISDEV)

112. TAP N’Itiative

113. The Interactive Initiative for Social Impact

114. Tijani Abdulkareem

115. Transformational Parenteen Network

116. Vision Spring Initiatives

117. We the People

118. Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC)

119. Women and Young People’s Awareness Initiative (WAYAI)

120. Women in Media and Communications Initiative

121. Women Youths and Children Advancement Program (WOYCAP)

122. Women’s Rights And Health Project

123. Women’s Crisis Centre Owerri

124. Working Moms Africa

125. Working Moms Africa (WMA)

126. World Impact Development Foundation (WIDEF)

127. Yiaga Africa

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