Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for that question and for expressing your interest in bringing about solutions to Nigeria. In terms of balancing security challenges in Nigeria and human rights, it's very sad to note that dealing with the security challenges that have been brought on Nigeria by extrem

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. Before presenting to you, I read out a whole list of committees that I have consulted, and the feeling is the same. Nigerian Canadians are very happy and lucky to be in a country where there are laws; where, when you work hard, there is a reward; where, when you follo

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, of course. We support any measure, diplomatic or economic, to force their hands. Canada is an important country that has a whole lot of leverage. Many countries respect Canada. Canada has many allies that respect the wishes of Canada. I'm sure that if Canada pushes its allie

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are some very practical things the Government of Canada can do, such as press the Government of Nigeria to constitute credible, independent investigations, demand justice for all victims of police brutality and demand the restoration of fundamental human rights. This can be

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The young people of Nigeria rose up not just because of SARS; they've had enough. One of the biggest issues the country faces is that fully armed Boko Haram, mocked up as Fulani herdsmen, have moved from the north of Nigeria all the way down south. They have covered the middle be

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The structure is broken. I will try to create a very clear picture of why there is a big problem. I'll bring it home here to Canada. If in Canada every police force or unit took direct orders from the Prime Minister, you'd agree with me that this would be a big problem. There wo

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As I said earlier, SARS was constituted for the right reasons. It's a special anti-robbery squad in response to issues of robbery in Nigeria. However, the SARS men and women are poorly paid and poorly trained. When they get out there, there's a tendency to take issue against the

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much for that question. My focus is on systemic failure because no good agency or arm of government can function under a system that cannot guarantee the proper channelling of complaints or in which rights are not guaranteed. If you go into the judicial system, yo

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Due to the brutal nature of responses when witnesses come forward or when innocent people are picked up as witnesses, they understand that the system cannot guarantee their release from the judicial system, they are left with nothing other than to play games, I would say, to free

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for that question. I do not have any specific examples to cite, but knowing the strength of the institutions of governments in Nigeria, if you are in custody in Nigeria, it's a very difficult place to be. I can also imagine that for a woman to be in custody under very

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I hope that— Thank you.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much for that question. Yes, I'm a vice-principal at St. Paul, within your riding. Since the incident of the shooting, there has been an escalated attempt to forcibly arrest and detain those who are seen as leaders of the protest, and in some places, as I said ea

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As far as I know, social media have played a significant role in helping bring to light the reality of what is happening in Nigeria, but there have been TV news clips of the Minister of Information looking at how social media can be banned or gagged in Nigeria. This is in line w

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for having me here and for giving me an opportunity to speak. Good evening to the honourable members as well, and thanks for the time provided for me. I want to acknowledge that my presentation today has contributions from a very wide consultation with #E