Thousands of Igbo, an ethnic group in Southeastern Nigeria, have begun arriving Washington DC for a major protest against 75-year old Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari.
Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) would storm the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC on April 30 when Mr. Buhari would be meeting with President Donald Trump.
In a statement to Today News Africain Washington DC, the organizers of the protest said Mr. Buhari, a retired Nigerian Army General, is responsible for the death of thousands of Igbo activists who have been demanding independence from the oil-rich but dilapidated West African country.
The leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, disappeared in strange circumstances, fueling speculations that he was abducted by Nigerian security forces following an attack on his residence.
Our team of reporters in Washington DC would bring you live developments inside and outside the White House on April 30.
The protesters would also accuse Mr. Buhari government of committing grave human rights violations across the country, and for not prosecuting those who perpetrated them. The accusations would also include the atrocities perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen throughout Nigeria.
Igbo activists have argued that Nigeria has not treated the Igbo fairly following the civil war of 1967-1970 that left at least two million of their people dead as they tried to break up.
The protests would be coming days after the United States government on Friday released a damning human rights report on Nigeria, saying grave violations continued to increase in 2017 while officials who perpetrated them were almost never prosecuted by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Why it matters: President Buhari is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on April 30, and both men would likely discuss further U.S. military assistance to Nigeria against the backdrop of serious human rights violations by security forces who use the same weapons to kill civilians.
The U.S. annual report on global human rights violations, released in Washington D.C. on Friday afternoon, said the administration of President Buhari “took steps to investigate alleged abuses, but fewer steps to prosecute officials who committed violations, whether in the security forces or elsewhere in the government”.
“Impunity remained widespread at all levels of government. The government did not adequately investigate or prosecute most of the major outstanding allegations of human rights violations by the security forces or the majority of cases of police or military extortion or other abuse of power,” the report said.
“The groups conducted numerous attacks on government and civilian targets that resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, the internal displacement of approximately 1.8 million persons, and external displacement of an estimated 205,000 Nigerian refugees to neighboring countries, principally Cameroon, Chad, and Niger,” the report said.
“Abductions by Boko Haram continued. The group subjected many abducted women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence, including forced marriages and rape. The government investigated attacks by Boko Haram and ISIS-WA and took some steps to prosecute their members, although the majority of suspected insurgent group supporters were held in military custody without charge,
“In its response to Boko Haram and ISIS-WA attacks, and at times in response to crime and insecurity in general, security service personnel perpetrated extrajudicial killings and engaged in torture, sexual exploitation and abuse, arbitrary detention, mistreatment of detainees, use of children by some security elements, looting, and destruction of property. The country also suffered from ethnic, regional, and religious violence,” the report added.
https://todaynewsafrica.com/breaking-thousands-of-igbo-travel-to-washington-dc-to-protest-against-buhari-at-white-house-during-meeting-with-trump/featured/
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