General
Coalition Condemns Rising Attacks on Human Rights Activists
By Adedapo Adesanya
The coalition of 32 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working to promote democracy and human rights has expressed grave concerns over the rise in the level of attacks targeted at human rights activists in the country.
The groups include: Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Enough is Enough (EIE) Nigeria; Partners for Electoral Reform; and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Others are Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED); Centre for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD); Yiaga Africa; and Global Rights Project Alert among others.
The group in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja said that the attacks on activists and pro-democracy campaigners have increased since the start of the #EndSARS protests.
“Escalation of threats against human rights activists is putting Nigeria in the negative global spotlight.
“This is in spite of the local and global condemnations which have trailed the death of protesters as a result of extrajudicial killings by security forces and the activities of sponsored non-state elements.
“It is worrisome that there has been no remorse on the part of those perpetrating these atrocities.
This Coalition is aware that the Nigerian authorities have stepped up measures to clamp down on individuals, organisations and corporate bodies alleged to be the masterminds of the protests,” the group said.
According to the coalition, for the avoidance of doubt, the #EndSARS protests, which gripped the country in the last few weeks, focused on the legitimate demands of the Nigerian youth.
Thus, it was for an end to police brutality and other dimensions of human rights abuses.
The alliance urged the government to focus attention squarely on the necessary administrative reforms to meet the short and long term demands of the protesters.
It also expressed concerns about the government’s inaction in responding to the direct threats issued against human rights organisations by non-state elements with pro-government objectives.
“This coalition has documented several patently illegal steps taken by the government, which clearly infringe on the fundamental rights of citizens.
“Increasingly, protest organisers are being intimidated and coerced by various state institutions.
“There have also been situations in which travel bans, which have no basis in the rule of law, have been slammed on individuals for their alleged roles in the #EndSARS protests,” the statement noted.
The organisation condemned the resort to acts of intimidation, profiling and coercion of citizens who it alleged had committed no offence, saying that the government’s action constitutes a serious attack on freedom of expression, which is a constitutionally guaranteed right of every Nigerian citizen.
“Specifically, Section 39(1) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as amended makes it clear that every person “shall be entitled to freedom of expression’’ among others.
“The group said that the peaceful protests staged in recent weeks provided an opportunity for the young people of Nigeria to air their views and express their opinions about the state of the country,” it said.
The CSOs said that the government’ acts of clamping down on those who participated in or mobilised for the protests amounted to a brazen violation of citizen’s fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
The association condemned acts of targeting the bank accounts of individuals who were alleged to be financing the protests without any exhaustive recourse to the judicial process.
The group said the reliance on ex parte applications to freeze accounts of citizens was antithetical to the principle of fair hearing and proper judicial oversight.
According to the organisation, these underhand tactics run contrary to the principles of natural justice which aver that an entity cannot be the judge in its own case.
“This coalition for the umpteenth time calls on the international community to take urgent measures to pressure the Nigerian authorities to act in accordance with the rule of law by halting the ongoing unconstitutional assault on citizens’ rights,” it stated.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A new branch of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Nigeria Chapter has been established in Oyo State, with Mr Adejumo Olusola Babatunde chosen as Coordinator.
The organisation set up an arm in the South-West state in a bid to expand its footprint in the country. Mr Babatunde will be assisted by other executive committee members, including Mr Ajiboye Olusola Akeem as Secretary, and Mrs Adeniran Olaide as Treasurer.
At the inauguration of the branch at the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Secretariat in the Akobo area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the president of IFMA Nigeria, Mr Sheriff Daramola, expressed delight at the successful inauguration of the branch and commended members for their commitment to the growth of facility management in Nigeria.
He highlighted IFMA’s global heritage, noting that the association is supporting over 25,000 members in more than 140 countries worldwide. Mr Daramola emphasised IFMA’s strong global network, the world’s largest and most widely recognised association for facility management professionals, headquartered in the United States and its growing influence in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
“IFMA members have taken positions of authority across federal, state, and private institutions; IFMA Nigeria is positioned to ensure our professionals are the first choice for global investors entering the Nigerian market,” he stated.
The Legal Adviser of IFMA, Nigeria, Mr Sola Fatoki, who shared this sentiment, said, “Since 1997, when IFMA Nigeria was established, the association has equipped facility management professionals with integrated knowledge spanning human behaviour, infrastructure, and the built environment.”
He encouraged engineers, architects, surveyors, ITC, Technology innovators, data analysts and allied professionals to see IFMA as their professional home and outlined the functions and responsibilities of branch executive committees.
In his remarks, Mr Babatunde expressed gratitude to the national council for the opportunity to serve and pledged to ensure the success of the branch, focusing on unity and the professional advancement of stakeholders in the region.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has denied reports that some disputed crude oil and gas wells have been recommended for ceding to specific oil-producing states.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the chairman of the commission, Mr Mohammed Shehu, said the attention of RMAFC had been drawn to a “purported report allegedly issued by the Inter-Agency Committee on the Verification of Coordinates of Disputed Crude Oil and Gas Wells between States,” which was circulating in sections of the national media (excluding Business Post).
The agency described the report as “misleading, premature, and does not represent the position or conclusions of the Commission.”
“At this stage, there is no finalised recommendation or decision regarding the ceding or reallocation of any oil wells, as due institutional processes are still ongoing,” the statement read.
The organisation explained that it operates a clearly defined and transparent procedure in handling assignments of national significance, stressing that the process on the disputed oil wells had not been concluded.
It disclosed that it only received a draft report from the Federal Government’s Inter-Agency Committee on Nigeria’s Oil-Producing States on Friday, February 13, 2026, which reportedly projected Cross River State as an oil-producing state.
The report, covering the nationwide 2017–2025 verification of crude oil and gas coordinates, was presented to the Chairman of RMAFC by 10 of the 14 members of the committee.
The exercise, which ran from August 2025 to February 2026, involved extensive field verification, technical reconciliation of state submissions, and a final plenary plotting of coordinates at RMAFC headquarters between January 24 and 31, 2026.
“Consistent with established protocol, the draft document has been transmitted to relevant technical and statutory stakeholders, namely the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the National Boundary Commission, and the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, for detailed review, observations, and technical input,” the commission stated.
According to the statement, after the observations and recommendations of the agencies are received, the matter will be subjected to further scrutiny by the commission’s internal tripartite committees, comprising the Committee on Crude Oil, Gas and Investment and the Legal Matters Committee.
“These committees will undertake comprehensive technical and legal reviews before presenting their findings to the Plenary Session of RMAFC for deliberation and final recommendations,” it added.
The commission further explained that upon completion of the institutional processes, its final report would be formally transmitted to the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation for necessary consideration and further action in line with applicable laws and constitutional provisions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, suffered an outage globally on Monday as millions of users could not use the service.
The widespread outages have been reported by thousands of users across several countries, including Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and India, among others.
According to data from Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions based on user reports, complaints about access to X started to pick up around 1:00 p.m. local time in Nigeria.
The cause of the outage was not immediately clear, and X has not put out any comment, but users told Business Post that the platform is not loading or cannot be reached, and the pattern of complaints suggests the issue is not limited to a single region.
Its developer platform status page stated “all systems are operational” all morning despite the reports.
The outage is the latest to hit internet services. X suffered a similar outage in March 2025, while a Cloudflare service outage caused access problems and downtime for various websites, including X, last November.
Microsoft’s Azure had also faced an issue last year, while disruption at Amazon AWS caused global turmoil among thousands of websites and some of the most popular apps, such as Snapchat and Reddit in October
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