It is the duty of authorities to ensure that people can freely express critical opinions, without fear of reprisals. - Osai Ojigho

I haven’t looked back in terms of using not only my legal skills but my knowledge as a civil society actor in order to ensure that people use these institutions in order to pursue justice, but also to bring the voices of women and girls to these conversations. Oftentimes when peace or security is being discussed, or when people are talking about justice, women and girls are not decision-makers, and I thought that by adding my voice and my expertise, I can raise the visibility of the issues of women and girls as well.

The failure of Nigerian authorities to release the report of the Presidential Panel that purportedly investigated compliance of armed forces with human rights obligations and rules of engagement, three years after the report was submitted to the President is a gross display of contempt for victims.

The representatives have security operatives allocated to them; they would consider the risk of targeting such a high profile person compared to the villagers who they can easily overwhelm. So, it is really about letting the leadership know that it is not about personal interest, but public interest. And when the people are crying, you have a responsibility to address it. We have had situations when officials heard about a crisis and simply hired more security officials instead of tackling the issue so you don’t need to spend more money on your personal security. It is that awareness about public security that we really need to get the lawmakers, governors, and President to pay attention to.