“It’s a fundamental human right which we cannot compromise and it is important to send this strong message to this government and to the security services to stop trying to muzzle people when they come together to exchange ideas."
Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel laureate, has warned the President Muhammadu Buhari regime to stop muzzling freedom of expression in the country, accusing him and the nation's security agents of refusing to listen to the people.
Soyinka stated this while speaking at his birthday event in Lagos.
He said: “One of the beauties of existence is the ability to express oneself.
“It’s a fundamental human right which we cannot compromise and it is important to send this strong message to this government and to the security services to stop trying to muzzle people when they come together to exchange ideas."
He also condemned the clampdown on protesters in Lagos.
Soyinka said: “You (the government) are reducing them (the citizens) as human beings and you are also reducing yourselves as human beings because it means that you are afraid to listen.
“And those who are afraid to listen, usually, are guilty people; that is why they do not want to listen.”
“The reduction of the freedom of any one of us however small, however minor; the reduction of the rights to expression of any one of us is an infringement and assault on the rights of all of us, whether we are part of that particular exercise or not.”