From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON) on Wednesday called on the federal government to immediately demilitarise the South East considering its negative impact on the socio-economic activities of the region.
CLASFON in a communique issued at the end of its 3-day physical and virtual president-in-council meeting held in Warri, Delta State, also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to desist from utterances capable of damping the morale of law-abiding citizens especially those living in the southeastern region.
The communique jointly signed by Arome Okwori and Olatunji Omole – CLASFON National President and National Secretary, respectively – expressed worry over the issue of general security across the country asking the federal government to consider the option of state police to bring the situation under control.
According to this group, ‘the Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria passionately appeals to the Federal Government to immediately relieve the hardworking/good people of the southeastern part of Nigeria of military harassment/intimidation.
‘CLASFON further respectfully urges the President to refrain from utterances which might dampen the morale of law-abiding and loyal citizens of Nigeria from the South East in particular and other parts of Nigeria in general as some statements are inimical to the stability of Nigeria and therefore inconsistent with the fatherly role of the President and exemplary leadership expected of this high office.’
The group further called on the National Assembly to expeditiously conclude legislative action by passing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law and for the President to assent to it without any delay to inspire the confidence of the citizenry in the electoral process as the nation prepares for the forthcoming general elections.
CLASFON also condemned the ban of the microblogging site, Tweeter, by the federal government, describing the development as a “violation of the fundamental human right of the citizens as enshrined in section 39(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
‘The action taken by the Federal Government has adversely affected the flow of foreign direct investment into our country and is also hurting the means of livelihood of our teeming youths thereby causing them untold hardship bearing in mind that most of the youths are unemployed by governments and the organised private sector and some of them undertake gainful activities using Twitter social media platform.
‘The Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria, therefore, urges the Federal Government to rescind its decision immediately while urging the Management of Twitter to ensure effective monitoring of its platform in preventing the spread of hateful, offensive and damaging posts/tweets,’ the group said.