By TINA TIMOTHY

Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), in collaboration with spaces for change (S4C) and Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS) is inviting the general public to Stakeholders Dialogue on strengthening civil military relations in the shrinking civic space in Southeast Nigeria.

According to the letter of invitation sighted byNews Express, and signed by FENRAD’s Executive Director, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, the event has been slated to hold in Umuahia, Abia State capital, on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at Banquet Hall, Bishop Anthony Nwedo Pastoral Centre, along BCA Road, Umuahia, by 10 a.m prompt.

The Stakeholders’ dialogue would, among other things, discuss the incidences of attacks by security agencies on citizens, attack on press freedom, attack on freedom of association, and attack on free speech.The event would also highlight “experiences of people living in abject poverty, persons living with disabilities, inequalities, and marginalization faced by women and persons with different sexual orientations (LGBTQ),” and the role of government and political actors in creating “functional state structures and institutions that will enhance the balance and protect the interests of the citizens who do not have access to resources.”

The overall objective of this intervention, according to Nwafor, is “to identify various roles of different civic Actors and security agencies have played in the shrinking civic space and set up dialogue mechanism for engagement in the zone for security audit.”

“Since 1999, there have been several cases of abuse of the rights of citizens by state actors, especially the security agencies who have been saddled with the responsibility of protecting citizens.For instance, between 2015 and July 2021, Spaces for Change (S4C), in its Civic Space Tracker, documented at least 398 incidents relating to Nigeria’s shrinking civic space. These include 112 incidents related to attack on press freedom, 86 incidents of attack on freedom of association, and 71 incidents of attack on free speech, among others.

“The shrinking civic space in Nigeria reflects the conflicting interests of political actors who want to wield more power, and the citizens who want more spaces to express themselves and influence how they are governed. Like frontline responders, civic spaces are burdened by the lived experiences of people living in abject poverty, persons living with disabilities, inequalities, and marginalization faced by women and persons with different sexual orientations (LGBTQ), and it has become imperative that government and political actors create functional state structures and institutions that will enhance the balance and protect the interests of the citizens who do not have access to resources.

“Members of the Action Group on Free Civic Space in Nigeria's Southeast conducted research in 2021 which was published as a Security Playbook. The study looked into the issue of shrinking civic space in the Southeast of Nigeria in relation to the country's rising securitization. The study investigated the country's level of insecurity to determine how it justifies rising securitization.

“Various contemporary themes captured in the included #EndSARS protests and their aftermath; the rising self-determination movement in the country, particularly in the Southeast, such as the creation of Ebubeagu outfit; the activities of the unknown gunmen, the declaration ofGhost Monday in the Southeast by indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) following the continued detention of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“Following this Development Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS), Spaces for Change (S4C) and Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), with support from Funds for Global Human Right, is organizing a Stakeholders dialogue on Civil-Military relations in the Southeast. The overall objective of this intervention is to identify various Roles of different civic Actors and security agencies have played in the Shrinking civic space and set up dialogue mechanism for engagement in the zone for security audit.”