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(DAILY_WILDCAT)

pacing the void

By Alicia A. Caldwell
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 14, 1997

Nigeria violates human rights, activist says


[photograph]

Ryan A. Mihalyi
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Hafsat Abiola is the daughter of Moshood Abiola who was elected president of Nigeria but never took office because of a military coup. She has been traveling the United States speaking about human rights issues in Nigeria.


For the past two days, Hafsat Abiola has been at the UA giving her testimony of the assassination and incarceration of her parents in her homeland, Nigeria.

Increasing human rights violations in Nigeria have caused the Department of State, Amnesty International and the United Nations to take a stand.

On a 10-state Amnesty International tour, recent Harvard graduate Hafsat stopped at the University of Arizona to tell her story.

Hafsat hopes to create and increase awareness about the human rights issue in Nigeria, she said.

Moshood Abiola, Hafsat's father, was elected president of Nigeria in 1993, but never took office because of a military coup masterminded by General Sani Abacha that placed him in prison.

From the time of her husband's imprisonment until June 4, Kudirat Abiola lobbied for her husband's release, her daughter Hafsat said. Kudirat Abiola was publicly outspoken against Abacha's government and the imprisonment of her husband.

Hafsat said that on June 4, her mother was assassinated because of her anti-government activities.

"By killing my mother, the first lady-elect, they (the military government) sent a message that 'we can do anything to anyone,'" she said. "They made an example of her, and they have made an example of my family."

Hafsat has been trying to acquire political and economic sanctions from the United Nations. However, those attempts have failed.

She hopes that the United States, France and Great Britain will place economic sanctions on Nigeria until Moshood Abiola is released.

"Forty-five percent of Nigeria's oil is purchased by the U.S.," Hafsat said. "But that is only 4 percent to 10 percent of the oil the U.S. uses. They can afford to take action."

While on her Amnesty International tour, Hafsat is recruiting students, civic leaders and religious leaders to lend their support and become a "friend of Nigeria."

She is also establishing the Kudirat Institute for Nigerian Democracy, named in memory of her mother. The institute will work to restore democracy to Nigeria from its Washington, D.C. offices and will be operation by June.

"If you fail to support people in democracy, you open it up for violence," Hafsat Abiola said.

Andrea Moreno, Amnesty International's student area coordinator for Arizona and anthropology senior at the UA, said Amnesty International went into Nigeria because of the human rights violations of the Abiolas.

Amnesty International has taken a firm stand against the Nigerian military government, however, they have not, as an organization, taken a stand on economic sanctions.

Hafsat concludes her visit to Tucson this morning.


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