Trains 150 Nigerian Human Rights Volunteers
•Safiu Kehinde
Amnesty International, a human rights organisation, has harped on the need for more Nigerians engagement and participation in fight for change as it trained 150 human rights volunteers in Nigeria to build their capacity to mobilize for human rights advocacy within their communities.
This was made known by Country Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, at the training tagged: “In Conversation with Amnesty International Nigeria,” on Saturday in Abuja.
The training with the theme: “Mobilising for Impact; Building a Unified Force for Human Rights Advocacy, was designed to strengthen and empower a network of dedicated volunteers.
Sanusi expressed that the gathering brought together volunteers to engage, discuss, learn and debate on the future of human rights in Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria is still experiencing some human rights challenges and all hands must be on deck to address them.
“I implore you to engage each other, discuss, debate and brainstorm on how we can build a movement across all the 36 states and the FCT.
“This is so that whenever the need arises, we can use our number to seek change, do solidarity and show that we are not just a few people in one part of Nigeria,” he said.
Also speaking at the event ,the organisation’s Programme Manager, Mrs Barbara Magaji, highlighted the essence of the training.
“Today we are engaging volunteers and supporters in Nigeria to ensure the work they do reaches the voiceless in communities looking at their rights being violated, whether by individuals, state actors or non-state actors.
“It also includes issues around freedom of expression, assembly, pushing for the rights of people, pushing to ensure that people are able to freely express themselves,” she said.
She further explained some of the role of the organisation among which include ensuring that people were not arrested and detained unduly, while admitting that they have constitutional rights to only be detained within a time frame of 24 to 48 hours.
She added that the organisation was working toward ensuring that vulnerable people like children and women continued to enjoy their rights as citizens or as people who reside within Nigeria.