The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused the president of lacking human empathy for the manner in which he’s handling the coronavirus lockdown.

According to the association, the lockdown order gives armed security forces the mandate to abuse the fundamental rights of Nigerians.

The statement which was issued by Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, also asserted that the president’s speech on the lockdown of Lagos and the FCT lacked clarity.

“Federal government must never be allowed to abuse the human rights of Nigerians through arbitrary detention and illegal arrests of citizens on frivolous reasons of violating the so-called quarantine,” he wrote.

“There is the possibility and indeed it has started happening that armed security forces are already arresting and detaining Nigerians under flimsy excuses and these armed security forces are extorting Nigerians in the guise of granting them bail.”

“The national Broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari lacks clarity because according to the directive to totally close down the nation’s commercial and political capitals of Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory for two weeks without making provisions for how families can buy their daily groceries and essential perishable food products and without any form of arrangements on how the poorest of the poor can get the food aids shows that President Muhammadu Buhari lacks human empathy and is not ready to adhere strictly to the demands of the law to respect the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”