Amnesty International has denounced the detention and incarceration of five men in Maiduguri, Borno State, for allegedly wearing T-shirts with the words “Tinubu Must Go” on them.
Baba Aji Gremami, Mustapha Abba Yemen, Abacha Mohammed Ali, Adam Umar Gubio, and Abdulhamid Mohammed were the names of the five men.
Amnesty claims that the men were detained and accused of printing and donning the T-shirts. They were charged with thuggery, criminal conspiracy, and inciting disturbance of public peace.
Amnesty International claimed that the incarceration was arbitrary and that it shouldn’t be illegal to express political disagreement through clothing.
The group stated that it is not illegal to “hurriedly remand them in prison and accuse them bizarrely of the intent to cause breach of public peace within West End Roundabout Community Maiduguri simply for wearing a T-shirt with a message of political dissent.”
It further said that expressing one’s political opinions and engaging in political opposition were essential human rights.
According to Amnesty International, “the right to show and express political opinion is not exclusive to one political party.”
The group demanded that the authorities immediately free the five men and stop trying to prosecute them on what it said were baseless accusations.
Amnesty further charged that the police and authorities in Borno State were increasingly using arrests and detentions to target opposition political parties and their supporters.
The group declared, “The Babagana Umara Zulum government must not engage in cracking down on peaceful dissent and unleashing the punitive power of the state on political opponents.”
It called on the state government and security services to observe the rule of law and protect freedom of speech and association.
However, Amnesty’s description of the occurrence is different from the police claims.
Citing Sections 60, 78, 79, and 392 of the Borno State Penal Code, the police document provided by SaharaReporters states that the accused reportedly sought to provoke a breach of public peace around West End Roundabout in Maiduguri.