Respected Nigerian musician cum politician Banky W in an Instagram post on his page today has called on Nigerians to take action against the human rights abuse ravaging the country.
Bankole Wellington aka Banky W, who cited issues like gender inequality, gender-based violence, human rights abuse, social media bill among others, urged Nigerians to ensure that they do something in their own way to put an end to these persistent issues.
In his post, he revealed that he has been working with the European Union and the British Council on a campaign. The campaign, “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Assault”, came to a close yesterday, December the 10th, which happens to be International Human Rights Day.
According to him, Nigeria is currently saddled with the burden of the abuse of human rights. He used the case of the arrest of Omoyele Sowore as an example.
The secret police re-arrested Sowore less than 24 hours after the court granted him bail. The arrest took place right inside a court of law.
He further cites the example of a publisher, Abba Jalingo, who is still in prison for criticizing a governor. Sahara reporters have had their Nigerian bank accounts frozen with no explanation, and assets seized.
Banky W also touches on the issue of gender equality. He stated that “the Gender Equality bill did not make it past a 2nd reading before senators shut it down. And yet the social media bill is on its way to a 3rd.”
He believes the push for social media repression into law is to prevent the people from speaking up against bad governance.
His post reads in part:
“There is a very obvious. The blatant assault on free speech and the freedom of expression is going on right before our eyes. There is an emergency when it comes to the treatment of women and children.
“When we allow Senators to marry teenagers and physically assault women. When 1 in 4 girls in Nigeria are victims of sexual assault; the youngest patient of the Mirabelle Center is a 3-month-old girl, the oldest is an 80 something-year-old, Grandma.
“When it comes to Human Rights in Nigeria, there is nothing to celebrate. There’s just a whole lot of work to do. We must all do something. Perhaps you can call/email your Senators and Reps?
“Maybe we can all post online and get the attention of International News Media so that they can join us in pressuring our Government? Maybe U can volunteer/donate to a Sexual Assault Referral Center? Just do something. Anything.”
This is not the first time the singer and politician is speaking up and encouraging the people to take action. He was one of the many Nigerian celebrities that called for justice when an innocent Nigerian citizen, Kolade Johnson was killed by a SARS operative.
