BY GLORIA USMAN, ABUJA – Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), under the auspices of Joint Nigeria Crisis Action Committee (JN-CAC), has declared May 28, 2018 as a National Day of mourning and remembrance to immortalise the victims of recent killings nationwide.
Worried by the level of impunity; continued violence and killings in the country, the group called on the Federal Government to shoulder its constitutional responsibility of protecting the citizens.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, Country Director, Global Rights, Abiodun Bayeu-teru, urged Nigerians to unite against the killings across the country.
She said, “We hope that our collective action will console grieving communities across the country. Our intention is that through these actions, we can rekindle our sense of unity, reminding ourselves that we’re together.”
According to the group, “We seek to stir the conscience of our political class into developing the political will to protect our Commonwealth through accountable governance.”
In his solidarity message, former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Chidi Odinkalu said; “We have set May 28 as a ‘National Day of Mourning’. We also call on all Nigerians to observe a minute of silence at noon on that day.”
He explained that; “Actions, include flying flags at half-mast, calling on all corporate entities, and the government to fly their flags at half-mast for the entire day.”
“As a sign of our collective mourning, we will be opening up a register of all person killed in violence for proper acknowledgement.
“We are working to establish minimum protocols for verification of identity and of mortality,” he added.
