Charles Onunaiju
7 October 2009
A human right activist and campaigner for the rights of self-determination for the Saharawi people in Western Sahara, Mrs. Aminatou Haider, has urged Nigeria and other African countries to put pressure on the Kingdom of Morocco to end its occupation of Western Sahara and allow its people to freely determine their political choice, of autonomy under Morocco or sovereign Independent state.
Mrs. Haider, who spent four years in solitary confinement in Moroccan jail told Daily Trust in an exclusive interview in Abuja that Nigeria as a strong and respectable African nation can lead others to do more for the Saharawi people "if it clearly stand against the Moroccan occupation of a fellow African nation."
According to her, Nigerian government and people need to understand the plights of the Saharawi's, who are living in two parts, with one part stranded in exile and leading miserable lives in refugee camps, while the other part lives under occupation, surrounded by one of the biggest military wall ever built by mankind.
The 2,500 kilometres wall built by Morocco round the occupied zone of Western Sahara, according to her is littered with land mines and other mass killing devices, which has caused deaths and injuries to the Saharawis.
She deplored what she called an international silence on the crimes of Morocco against the Saharawi people, urging Africa countries and especially Nigeria to reflect on the dehumanization of colonialism prior to independence and then transpose such conditions to the current plights of the Saharawis, under Moroccan occupation.
She charged Nigeria to take leadership as it did in the struggle against apartheid, to end the occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, adding that even though that Saharawi Arab democratic republic is a member of the African Union, the continental organization is yet to take effective measures to end the last bastion of colonial oppression in the continent.
Haider who was in Nigeria on the invitation of Nigeria labour congress and National Association of Nigerian Students has received many prestigious international awards in recognition for her tireless advocacy for human rights, women rights and peaceful resistance from many international organizations such as Genita Prize of Bandres, Spain, Freedom Prize Award, Washington, U.S.A, Silver Rose Award 2007, European Parliament Brussels, Belgium and many others.
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