Fresh 3,500 signatures generated in petition to Buhari, demanding halting of FG’S COVID vaccine mandate

• FG accused of staking citizens lives for $400m World Bank credit facility

 The protest of the compulsory COVID-19 vaccine imposed on Nigerians by the federal government has continued to generate more momentum across the country. Earlier on Thursday, over 1,500 signatures were appended on the anti-vaccine petition to President Muhammadu Buhari within 12 hours. As the momentum continues to increase, over 3,500 signatures were appended in the petition to the President in 12 hours.

The petitioners are being mobilized by an advocacy group, Alliance Against Forced Vaccination, which protests the indiscriminate imposition of COVID-19 vaccine on Nigerian citizens by the federal government on the healthy and the sick, including persons not infested by the virus.

The Alliance Against Forced Vaccination is facilitating the protest of the federal government’s vaccine mandate through a petition published on Change.org, which has been appended by over 3,500 signatures in less than 12 hours.

The group argued that forced vaccine mandate by the government is unconscionable and a direct violation of Human Rights in Nigeria.

The group declared: “everyone has a right to choose, live and interact freely without prejudice and should not be forced by a vaccine mandate. Adverse effects have been reported for these vaccines all over the world and almost every day, there are new adverse reactions reported.

“We, the people, must rise and protect our liberty by resisting this move by the Federal Government of Nigeria to enforce vaccine mandate on all civil servants.

“All over the world, courts are throwing out vaccine mandates, and the Government must take cue from the growing global rejection of vaccine mandates. We cannot allow this, especially, with the current state of Covid-19 in Nigeria.”

The various brands of coronavirus vaccines have generated controversies in most countries of the world after certain adverse effects were detected on persons who have received doses of vaccines. The adverse effects, in most cases, resulted in death, deformity, and in other instance, mild ailments and blood clot.

Some countries in Europe, including America, in response to the raging adverse effects, set up monitoring or watchdog agencies for interventions on the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines, updating governments with periodic statistics of adverse effects incidence. The Nigerian government has none of such in existence. More so, the statistics of coronavirus infection and consequences does not show that the country faces any threat from the virus, considering that many detected to have shown symptoms recovered after a short period at the isolation centres, even during the assumed peak of the coronavirus ravage across the world.

The Alliance Against Forced Vaccination subsequently protest the 72-hour PCR test for people who reject taking the vaccine, pointing out the financial burden. According to the group: “considering the financial implication of frequent testing, it is practically and financially impossible for many to afford bi-weekly PCR tests as the minimum wage in the country cannot successfully pay for a PCR Test.”

The Alliance Against Forced Vaccination in the petition also argued that with the current Covid statistics in Nigeria of less than 13,000 active cases of Covid-19 infection in the country, [208,000 cases with 195,000 recoveries] since February 2020 when the index case of Covid-19 was registered in the country, it is safe to state that Covid-19 does not present itself as the greatest threat to public health; especially with just about 2,700 deaths in Nigeria.

It was also contested that the Nigerian government is putting the lives of citizens at the risk of health hazard because of the $400 million credit facility approved by the World Bank Board of Directors in additional financing from the International Development Association (IDA) in September 2021 to provide upfront financing for safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine acquisition and deployment in the country. “Could this be the reason federal government wants to use Nigerians as Guinea pigs; and imposing mandatory COVID vaccine jabs.”

The government is widely perceived to have shown unprecedented passion, zeal, and commitment in enforcing the compulsory coronavirus vaccine mandate than has ever been shown in the development of the overall health sector or other areas of national development. Besides, the federal government did not procure the quantity of vaccine that would cover the entire population in Nigeria, yet, desperate to impose the vaccine jabs on everyone.

The government is also widely perceived to be desperate to exhaust the $400 million credit facility of the World Bank and the IDA than caring for the genuine health of the citizens.

At the early stage of the vaccine mandate protest, a Federal High Court in Rivers State had restrained Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State from implementing the compulsory coronavirus vaccine mandate on public servants in Edo State. The suit was later transferred from the vacation court to the Federal high Court in Benin City, Edo State, for continuation of hearing.

The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha,  Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), had at a media briefing in Abuja on  October13,  threatened that “with effect from 1st December 2021, Federal Government employees shall be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, or present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result done within 72 hours to gain access to their offices in all locations within Nigeria and our Missions.”

In the earlier petition to President Buhari, which had 1,500 signatures, the petitioners had protested: “it is equally a sneaky devilish strategy to request bi-weekly PCR tests from staff before entry of office.

“According to current data and experts, the PCR tests cannot be the gold standard for detecting Covid19, as the rate of false positives are extremely high.

“This information is publicly available, and it is worrisome that Nigeria chooses to hinge the livelihood of her civil servants on this.”