THE CENTRE for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has sounded an alarm over what it condemns as a dangerous lurch towards authoritarianism in Kano State, demanding an immediate halt to the “troubling pattern of arrests and intimidation” targeting government critics.
Warning that the current trajectory threatens to strangle the state’s vibrant democratic culture, CITAD referenced credible and deeply disturbing reports that security agencies, particularly the Department of State Services (DSS), have launched a full-scale crackdown on voices of dissent in Kano State.
The organisation specifically named four individuals, namely; Saifullahi Abubakar, Abba Ibrahim Hussain, Aminu Warkal, and Abdulmajid Dan Bilki Kwamanda, who are reportedly being persecuted for their online and offline commentary and their legitimate calls for greater transparency in governance.
According to CITAD, this brazen attack on fundamental rights is the latest and most alarming incident in a string of repressive actions that have characterised the state in recent months.
In a strongly worded statement signed by its Executive Director, Engr. YZ Ya’u, CITAD made it unequivocally clear that holding public officials accountable is not a crime.
Ya’u noted that the actions of the security apparatus in Kano suggest a government that views criticism as treason and accountability as a threat to its hold on power.
It stressed that the use of the DSS, an agency meant to deal with genuine threats to national security, to settle political scores and harass citizens is a perversion of its mandate and a hallmark of authoritarian governance.
The organisation demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals detained solely for exercising their constitutional rights while also calling on the government to cease immediately the arrest, harassment, or intimidation of citizens for expressing lawful opinions.
CITAD calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently call the Department of State Services to order noting that its repressive actions in Kano has implications far beyond the state.
It asserted that if security agencies are allowed to become the private enforcers for political figures, the very foundation of Nigerian democracy is at risk.
CITAD vowed to continue monitoring the situation and engaging stakeholders to ensure that digital rights and civic freedoms are protected.
