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Day of Fasting for a Free Nigeria

Day of fasting for a FREE NIGERIA

Free Nigeria Movement
P.O. Box 441395
Indianapolis, IN 46244
Phone/Fax +1 (317)216-4590
Email: PR@FreeNigeria.org
Website: www.FreeNigeria.org
Listserv: Maiser@listserv.butler.edu, text of message "SUBSCRIBE
FREENIGERIA"
Radio Station:  Voice of Free Nigeria (VoFN) 11.680 kHz, every Saturday
at 1900Hrs GMT (8:OOpm Nigerian Time)

“Nigeria; Nazi Germany of the 90s”
                - Ibrahim H. Muhammed

For Immediate Release
(Please distribute widely)

Day of fasting for a Free Nigeria
Contact: Nasiru Ikharo  at (317)216-4590 or PR@FreeNigeira.Org

    On October 1st, 1997 from 0600Hrs to 1800Hrs (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.), Nigerians and Nigeria activists around the world shall heed the call of the Free Nigeria Movement and hold a day of fasting to draw attention to the plight of Nigeria and its people.

    October 1st, 1960, is the date Nigeria got her flag independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain, since then, Nigeria has only had 10 years of democratic and constitutional rule,  although it has had 27 years of military tyranny. With the latter being the order of the day since 1983.

 37 years later, the fast for a Free Nigeria is being held:

     * To get our communities and schools NOT to use the products and services of corporations that do business in or with Nigeria, most notably Coca-Cola, Shell Oil,   and Motorola.;

* To increase awareness about the genocidal situation in Nigeria under the Gen. Sanni Abacha led Nigerian military regime; and

* To pressure the government of the democratic state we live in to impose immediate economic sanctions against Nigeria, as well as to support the expulsion of Nigeria from the United Nations, FIFA, the Commonwealth, and other world bodies it belongs to.

    By having a global day of  fasting, it is hoped that attention would be drawn to the large scale repression in Nigeria, where the illegal and illegitimate military regime led by General Sanni Abacha has thrown the duly-elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Moshood K. O. Abiola into detention in solitary confinement, executed hundreds of real and imagined opponents, including playwright and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa, imprisoned at least 7,000 others, dismantled all the democratic structures, revoked all the electoral-mandates  granted to the duly-elected  and legitimate representatives of the Nigerian people, allowed oil drilling companies to drill oil without regard for the human or ecological communities where the oil is drilled, dismantled legitimate trade-unions and thrown their elected leaders into detention in solitary confinement, allowed the First-lady of Nigeria, Mrs. Kudirat Abiola to be assasinated in broad daylight in public view by "unknown gunmen", and generally reduced the country with the largest population in Africa to a virtual jungle.

    Nigeria, is a nation in Africa  with a population of over 100 million people held hostage at gunpoint by armed criminals in the Nigerian military , led by infantry General, Sanni Abacha. After removing an equally illegal and illegimitate "Interim National Government" led by Earnest Shonekan, the Abacha regime came into power on Novemeber 17th, 1993.

Brief History of the Nigerian Crisis:

    The Nigerian military regime, in which General Sanni Abacha held the portfolio of Minister of Defense, held a series of democratic elections for the Local, State and National tiers of government between 1990 and June 12, 1993, [when the Presidential election was held]. After it became apparently clear to those monitoring it (both domestic and international observers) that the Presidential election was free and fair, and the popular candidate, Chief Moshood K. O. Abiola had emerged the winner, the military regime, led at the time by General Ibrahim Babangida declared on June 23, 1993 that the election had been annuled. By August 26th, 1993, Babangida resigned as dictator of Nigeria and  handed over to a puppet regime called the "Interim National Government" (ING), in which he allowed his assistant, General Sanni Abacha to retain the portfolio of Minister of Defense. By this time, General Abacha had personally supervised the daylight murder by Nigerian military troops of hundreds of activists who were protesting the annulment of the Presidential election, and had proven beyond reasonable doubt his true regard for the Nigerian people.

    By November 17th, 1993, Abacha decided that he had had enough of playing the role of Minister of Defense in  the illegal "Interim National Government", instead, he chose to make himself the new dictator of Nigeria. He therefore, with the backing of equally unpatriotic criminals in the Nigerian military, not only dissolved the illegal ING, but also all the democratic structures in Nigeria, from the local government  level to the National Assembly (House and Senate) level, he also upheld the annulment of the Presidential election.

    Within less than one year of forcing himself on the Nigerian people, he declared President Moshood Abiola wanted for declaring himself the legitimate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, placed a $50,000 bounty on his head, arrested him, and has kept him detained in solitary confinenemtn at an unknown site till today. Within this time, he has also dissolved all the major trade unions opposed to his regime, and thrown their duly-elected leaders into detention, where most of them are up till today. As if that was not enough, he also had the leading Nigerian environmental activist, Kenule Saro-Wiwa arrested on trumped up charges, brought before a military tribunal set up by his equally illegal regime, tried without any regard for the rule of law, condemned and finally executed along with eight other "conspirators" by hanging.
    At present, General Abacha, using the greed and lust for power of certain opportunists in the Nigerian civilian populace has created five political parties for Nigeria and claims to be working to restore the country to democratic rule, even though he has no moral or legal right to do this whatsoever, since the Nigerian people have already democratically elected their leaders, some of whom, including President Abiola are in jail.

International Condemnation of Abacha's Dictatorsahip:

      The United Nations, the U.S. State Department, the Commonwealth of Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all call the Nigerian military regime of Sanni Abacha one of the major human rights violators in the world. Arbitary arrests, summary executions, destruction of indegenous communities and other forms of major human rights crimes are being committed on a daily basis.

International Corporate Support for Abacha's Dictatorship:

    Many corporations bankroll this illegitimate and morally repugnant regime: Shell Oil, Texaco and the other major and minor companies, as well as Coca-Cola, Motorola, Bank of America and a host of others. Despite the fact that these companies have all been appealled to to terminate their business connections with this regime, they have all refused to, preferring instead to place profit over principle.

    Nigeria activists from around the world and human rights advocates call for economic sanctions against the illegal Abacha regime. In the USA alone, the Cities of Oakland and Berkeley in California, and the Towns of Amherst and Cambridge in Massachusetts have passed selective purchasing ordinances against the Abacha regime. Thereby giving a number of corporations a choice of doing business in or with Nigeria or lisk losing business with the west.

Who should fast:
We want as many individuals, civic groups and even institutions to participate in this as possible. If you are recent graduate from high school, or University, it might pay off to contact old teachers and classmates to see if they would want to join our campaign for a Free Nigeria, and specifically participate Fast.

Use of this announcement:

    Activists should feel free to use the information contained here in relation to the fast. They should also endeavor to send this release (or their version) to as many media fax number as they can. Also, copies should be sent to the offices of their political representatives, and to Shell Oil, Coca-Cola and Motorola (the phone book is a valuable asset for getting their local numbers.

    Also, more information is available on the Free Nigeria Movement and the Free Nigeria struggle at the FNM website at www.FreeNigeria.org.

Announcements:

    If you or your group intend to organize any activities on the day of the fast, or just intend to participate in the fast itself,  please send us a message at PR@FreeNigeria.org and we shall be more than happy to publicize it.

Appreciation:
Obviously, there are those who are committed to a Free Nigeria , but cannot join us in the fast due of health reasons and other prevailing circumstances.

To them, we also say thanks, for we believe that not only shall they help publicize the fast, but on that day, they shall also be with us in spirit. This is a sacrifice in itself.

On behalf of the Free Nigeria Movement:
Sincerely,

                                                Nasiru Ikharo
                                                National Information Secretary,  FNM