The United Nation has condemned the burning to death of Mrs. Achejuh Abuh, Woman Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Wada/Aro Campaign Council of Kogi state.
Abuh was killed in the just concluded gubernatorial election in Kogi State. The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, stated this yesterday, while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja.
The UN deputy secretary said she had raised the issue with the president alongside other gender-based violence.
She expressed delight that President Buhari had already condemned the killing of the politician and even ordered a thorough investigation.
Asked what she discussed with the President on the killing of Abuh, the deputy UN Scribe said: “Mine was to commend him for condemning the death of the politician in Kogi State. We did not go into a discussion around it, but the fact that he has shown zero tolerance for it and insisted on an investigation is important, especially as we start this week on gender-based violence in all its ramifications.”
Answering a question on the Hate Speech Bill before the Senate, which had initially prescribed death penalty for offenders, Mohammed responded that the initiatives to control hate speech was a welcome idea, but stressed that the world body does not support death penalty.
Amina explained: “First, we need to know that globally, we are in a space that hate speech has reached an all-time high and so many checks and balances that can be put into the society, into a country, into a region, to bring an end to that is welcome. Again, the way the legislation is trying to put that in place, I think is commendable. We, of course, did not support the death penalty and I am also happy to see yesterday, that portion was taken out of the legislation.
“The (UN) Secretary-General had also put in place a special ending on hate speech. So, there is a strategy for that now and we are looking at that globally. I think this framework is important for multilateralism and we can go much further if we do these things together. Many of these issues are across borders through technologies.”
She said that though she was on a visit to the country, she was at the Presidential Villa to pay a courtesy visit on President Buhari for the support the UN has enjoyed from Nigeria.
Credit: New Telegraph
