A civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has warned President Muhammadu Buhari that unless he reins in his bellicose and careless-talking ministers, the nation may be thrown into turmoil before, during or after the forthcoming elections.

HURIWA listed the ruling party's top officials and some All Progressive Congress (APC) senators as agents of war who are pushing Nigeria to the precipice of irreversible civil war.

The rights group specifically condemned the deployment of hate speeches by the Ministers of Transport and Information, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and Lai Mohammad respectively; the National Chairman of APC, Mr Adams Oshiomhole; ex-governor of Akwa Ibom state and decampee Senator Godswill Akpabio; and the Media Assistants to the President targeting prominent opposition politicians such as the Presidential flagbearer of the main opposition political party - Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and other members of the PDP such as Senator Dino Melaye and Dr Doyin Okupe who are working for the election of their candidate and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

HURIWA condemned the arrests and arbitrary detentions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Police of these opposition politicians who have been slammed with trumped-up charges. HURIWA condemned the Buhari administration for running illegal political prisons under some law enforcement institutions such as the Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigeria Police just as the rights group accused the President of keeping political prisoners such as erstwhile National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki; leader of the Shiites Islamic Movement, Sheikh Ibrahim El-zakzaky; and civil rights campaigns, Mr Deji Adeyanju in clear breach of bail orders granted by different competent courts of law.

HURIWA has therefore called on world leaders to mount pressure on President Buhari to immediately free all political prisoners languishing in different underground detention centres.

HURIWA lamented that the ruling party APC has decided to abuse their privileged positions by using the law enforcement agencies as attack dogs of the party to frame up major political opponents belonging to the PDP, including its presidential candidate who has just been slammed with a phantom allegation of playing a role in the collapse, over a decade and half ago, of the Bank PHB which was a private business enterprise.

Besides, HURIWA expressed disappointment that whereas indicted erstwhile officials including former governors produced by the PDP with serial graft allegations hitherto hanging on their necks like the sword of Damocles have had those damaging allegations of theft of billions of dollars belonging to their states pardoned since they hurriedly joined the ruling party, “the APC controlled EFCC and of late, the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunals, have become agencies for politically motivated media trials and evil plots.”

HURIWA lamented that even the National Chairman of APC, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, had during the weekend in Edo State whilst welcoming some defectors from the PDP to the ruling APC confirmed that his party is a refuge whereby any member of the opposition PDP that cross carpets into their fold would have all their graft allegations pardoned by President Buhari.

HURIWA said the fact that the President “has maintained conspiratorial silence to the open criminalisation of members of the PDP by the National Chairman of APC and his confirmation that members of the PDP with cases of fraud who joined their fold would enjoy presidential pardon shows that the Federal Government is simply playing to the gallery by making bogus claims of waging war against corruption and economic crimes whereas what is at play is simply choreographed attacks targeted political opponents of APC.”

HURIWA specifically averred that the National Chairman of the APC, Oshiomhole, urged members of the opposition party to join his party so that their sins could be forgiven.

HURIWA quoted Adams Oshiomhole as making the disclosure during the APC rally in Benin, the Edo State capital, on Thursday while receiving some members of the PDP into the ruling APC during the rally. He was reported as saying: “Yes, once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven.”

HURIWA regretted that the EFCC which received from prominent Edo state citizens copious petitions with extensive evidence allegedly linking Oshiomhole of heist of multi-billion dollars belonging to Edo state people when he served for eight years as governor but instead the EFCC failed to activate its investigative mechanisms and when the petitioners headed to the Federal High Court to seek for mandamus to compel the EFCC to arrest, investigate and prosecute Oshiomhole over those explosive crimes, the same EFCC opposed the application of these petitioners for a mandamus to compel it to do her work.

HURIWA warned President Buhari that these atrocious acts of double standards by the law enforcement agents under his command and control is driving Nigeria to the precipice of anarchy and doom just as the group accused the cabinet ministers aforementioned of deliberately spreading hate-filled accusations against the President's political opposition members as a way of instigating civil turmoil which may hamper and undermine the smooth conduct of the February and March General elections.

HURIWA has therefore resolved to petition world leaders on the activities of these Federal Government officials and agencies which may precipitate civil war if not called to order to stop their widespread deployment of hate speeches against political opposition.

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