Abati: I thought I could rattle Tinubu during media chat — but he knows what he’s doing

By Olayiwola Ajisafe

The Nigerian Human Rights Community has urged President Bola Tinubu to take action concerning the death threats issued against Folakemi, daughter of human rights lawyer, Femi Falana.

The group noted that any attack on Falana is an attack on Nigeria’s civil rights movement, as it described the lawyer as a “storming icon” in Nigeria’s human rights struggle.

In a statement signed on Thursday by an official of the group, Taiwo Adeleye, and made available to PUNCH Online on Friday, NIHRCO described the threat as a ‘historical challenge’ to Nigeria, urging the president to be on top of the situation and provide leadership in fishing out those responsible for sending threats to Falana’s daughter.

This statement came after a series of accusations and lawsuits concerning the alleged defamation of Falana and his son, Falz; in the ongoing scandal involving popular crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky.

Martins Otse, aka, VeryDarkMan, had released a call recording which accused Falana of purportedly demanding N10 million to help Bobrisky get a presidential pardon.

Afterwards, VeryDarkMan, issued an apology to Falana, saying that he didn’t believe the senior lawyer was involved in the alleged bribery levelled against Bobrisky, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigeria Correctional Service.

However, NIHRCO said, “President Bola Tinubu has been asked to fish out criminals responsible for death threats to a daughter of prominent human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana. The Nigerian Human Rights Community stands with Mr Falana at this moment.

“Mr Falana had said that one of his daughters received death threats from anonymous person(s) with a message that his daughter would be harmed if Falana proceeded with litigation against a social media figure, Mr Martins Otse who released an audio a few weeks ago where he made spurious claims against the human rights activist.

“The sender(s) provided clues by using a cellphone to send the message. Phone numbers cannot be registered in Nigeria without NIN. It means the identities of the criminals should not be difficult to unveil.”

The group urged the public to be wary of  “common criminals and rogues portraying themselves as defenders of the helpless Nigerians, adding that many of them are professional blackmailers working as conscious state agents.”

The group added that “Nigerians know those to be held responsible if anything happens to Mr Falana or any member of his family. Any attack on Mr Falana is an attack on the civil rights movement in Nigeria.

“This is the time to find out who is responsible for the threat message. This is a big challenge for President Tinubu. It is a challenge he must resolve. Nigerians want to know the vagabonds responsible for sending the threat message.”