Transparency International condemns arrest and mistreatment of civil society leader in Nigeria

Transparency International, the anti-corruption group, today strongly condemned the arrest and physical attack on Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), the executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and a partner of Transparency International in Nigeria, by members of a government task force.

Transparency International calls on the Nigerian government to investigate the incident and take all necessary action to ensure this does not happen again.

Rafsanjani was acting to help individuals who were themselves being abused by members of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) task force. The AEPB was established in 1997 to police public health violations in the region.

Rafsanjani is a respected member of our partner organisation in the fight against the abuse of power, bribery and corruption in Nigeria. Local and national authorities should take every measure to promote and support his work, as well as the efforts of CISLAC.

As a party to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, Nigeria has an obligation to ensure that, according to Article 6 of the charter: “Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.”

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