Amnesty International Nigeria has spoken out after a serving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member alleged she received threats for criticising President Bola Tinubu’s administration in a viral video.

The corps member, who posted the video on via @talktoraye, expressed frustration over rising inflation and economic hardship. She directly called out saying: “I don’t know if there is any other president that is as terrible as you, but you are such a terrible president.”

She also criticised the NYSC program, claiming it has been more of a financial burden than a benefit.

“If a lot of Nigerians come out and start speaking about what we are going through, maybe changes will be made in the government,” she said.

Following the video’s widespread circulation, she claimed she started receiving threatening messages, allegedly from NYSC officials. In another video, she recorded a call in which an official reportedly told her:

“Are you normal? Keep quiet and bring down the video you posted.”

She later shared more messages on Instagram (@iamraye__), alleging that NYSC officials were attempting to track her down.

“Deleting this content is of no use because they already know me. However, deleting it means whatever they do to me, nobody would know. If they decide to give me a hefty punishment, nobody would know because I used my own hands to cover it by deleting what I started,” she wrote.

She further accused an NYSC official of asking people to identify her, questioning why she was being treated like a criminal.

“All I did was lament. All I did was complain. I’m getting tons of messages like this from my fellow corpers. What is wrong with just one person complaining? Why are they looking for me like I’m a criminal?”

She also denied making false accusations against the government, saying she only exercised her right to free speech.

“I made sure to not accuse the government of anything maliciously! I questioned them. I asked questions. As an NYSC corper, I didn’t sign off my freedom of speech.”

She claimed NYSC officials had ordered her to report to their office on Monday but continued to pursue her aggressively.

“Dear NYSC, if you say a corper has faulted, you wouldn’t treat them like this and scare them! You are scaring me for my dear life. Please leave me alone.”

Amnesty International condemned the alleged threats and defended the corps member’s right to express her views. The organisation posted on (formerly ):

“Amnesty International strongly condemns threats and intimidation directed at a lady who posted a TikTok video lamenting the current escalating economic hardship. The lady alleged that NYSC officials @officialnyscng threatened her for refusing to delete the video."

It is perfectly within her right to express discontent peacefully. Instead of threatening her for her opinions on rampant inflation, the authorities should be prioritising addressing the country’s economic woes.

Millions of people in Nigeria are facing extreme poverty. So far, the authorities have failed to put in place effective mitigation measures, leaving millions of people without the hope of getting out of the economic challenges and enjoying their human rights.

The Nigerian authorities must stop responding with violence and threats to individuals and groups who express dissenting opinions — in utter disregard for the Nigerian constitution and international law. Holding and voicing dissenting views is not a crime.”

NYSC has yet to respond to the allegations.