Politics
Human rights must be suspended until national security can be protected – AGF Malami echoes
Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice; Abubakar Malami has said that National security of Nigeria takes precedence over the constitution especially the fundamental human rights document.
The Attorney-General made this argument at the ECOWAS Court in defense of the case filed in the consolidated lawsuit of activists and media houses, Amnesty international and Peoples Gazette, challenging the twitter ban in Nigeria.
We recall that on 5th June 2021, the Nigerian government officially put an indefinite ban on Twitter, restricting it from operating in Nigeria after the social media platform deleted tweets made by President Muhammad Buhari which was considered to have violated the platform’s policy.
In the 17 – page defense document filed before the ECOWAS Court on September 27, Mr Malami cited the legal opinion of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad.
CJN Tanko Muhammad had made this argument in a june 2007 during a supreme court case on the prosecution of Asari Dokubo who had led Nigeria Delta militants seeking for liberation
“Where national security is threatened or there is the real likelihood of it being threatened, human rights or the individual right of those responsible takes second place. Human rights or the individual rights must be suspended until national security can be protected or well taken care of”. Tanko Muhammad had said.
Chief Justice Of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad
This argument is also believed to be consistent with President Muhammad Buhari’s position who had made a similar remark during a national conference by Nigerian Bar Association in 2018, but was met with condemnation after saying that the rule of law was inferior to national security.
The ECOWAS court has set January 2022 for its ruling on the case.
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