A cross-section of Nigerians,
socio-cultural and political groups have expressed anger over an order
by the Nigeria Police cancelling the February 6 nationwide
anti-government protests organised by singer, Innocent Idibia, popularly
called Tuface.
The organiser of the protests, tagged
Occupy Nigeria, had said the planned protests were to draw the attention
of the present government to the hardship in the country as a result of
high inflation rate, shortage of food and other social problems. They
are scheduled to hold simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and
Kano.
The Nigeria Police on Friday called on
the conveners of the protests to call off their planned gathering,
saying it might lead to a breakdown of law and order.
The force said it learnt that apart from
the protests being planned by Idibia, other interest groups were also
planning a counter-protest, which might lead to clashes and attendant
loss of lives.
A statement by the police spokesman,
Jimoh Moshood, at 10:28pm on Friday, said it recognised the right of the
citizens to protest, but added that it was necessary for the two groups
to call off their protests.
It read, “The Nigeria Police is
currently in possession of credible intelligence reports that other
interest groups are equally planning to hold a counter-protest on the
same day at the same places as the Tuface group. If these various
planned protests are held as scheduled, there may be breakdown of law
and order, with attendant loss of lives and property.
“To this end, the Nigeria Police deems it imperative to issue this press release:
“That Innocent Idibia (a.k.a Tuface)
and his group are hereby advised strongly to shelve their planned
peaceful protest(s) in the interest of peace and security.
“That the other opposing groups are
equally advised strongly to shelve their planned counter-protest in the
interest of peace and security.
“That the Nigeria Police is prepared to
employ every possible legal means for the maintenance of law and order;
and for the protection of lives and property.
“Consequently, members of the public,
parents and guardians, religious leaders and other interest groups are
strongly advised to prevail on their children and wards, followers and
adherents not to allow themselves to be used by any group to cause
disturbance of public peace and break down of law and order.”
Earlier, Mr. Laolu Akande, Senior
Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Acting President Yemi
Osinbajo, had said in an interview with one of our correspondents that
“Nigeria is a free country. Lawful assembly is permitted (for Nigerians)
to express themselves.
“This administration is not in the
business of stopping people’s rights. The most important thing is to
ensure a peaceful assembly.”
When asked specifically if the
Presidency was not concerned that the Abuja protest is scheduled to take
place on a day Buhari is expected to resume work, Akande said, “They
are free to protest any day they choose.”
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Fatai Owoseni, and the FCT Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Mustafa, had
earlier on Friday warned the organisers against the planned protests,
saying that they stood the risk of being arrested.
And while Owoseni later on Friday said
that his command had reached an agreement with the organisers of the
rally scheduled to hold on Monday, his FCT counterpart, Mustafa, had
cautioned Tuface against holding a similar rally in Abuja.
He had said, “The command wants to
advise the conveners of such a protest to jettison any plan of carrying
out the protest on the streets of FCT as it is capable of breaching the
peaceful atmosphere.”
However, Nigerians lambasted the
Presidency and made reference to a protest successfully held on November
19, 2014 by chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, including
Buhari; Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; and former
Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi (now Minister of Transportation).
They described protest as a right
enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, adding that it would be
hypocritical for the government that came to power on the back of
rallies to now stop Nigerians from holding peaceful protests.
For instance, the President Emeritus of
Aka Ikenga, an Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Chief Goddy Uwazurike,
said as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, every Nigerian has a
right to peaceful protest, adding that a high court in Kwara State once
ruled that police lacked the right to issue permit for protest or stop
people from protesting.
He said, “President Buhari, then a
candidate, not even an aspirant, of the All Progressives Congress;
chieftains of the APC, including Odigie-Oyegun, Amaechi and many others
had their own protest in Abuja and nobody stopped them.
“They even marched on the police
headquarters, through the streets of Abuja. They were not stopped. So,
if they benefitted from the right to protest, they have no right to stop
others from exercising that right.”
Also, National Publicity Secretary,
Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Yinka Odumakin, who made
reference to the 2014 protest by the APC chieftains, said no government
had the right to arrest people embarking on a peaceful protest.
He said, “Under colonial rule, our
people protested; under military rule, our people protested. This
government came out of protests against the Federal Government. When
they (APC chieftains) promised Nigerians change, does the change mean
taking away our fundamental rights?
“As long as your protest will be
peaceful, you don’t need permit from any police, President, or dictator,
and no military tyrant can take that right away. Tuface and co should
go ahead and organise the protest and let us see the police arrest them
and the whole world will know that there is no democracy in Nigeria.”
The group’s Secretary-General, Sehinde
Arogbofa, added, “It is true that this government has not done anything
for the past two years and people are suffering. So if Nigerians decide
to hold a peaceful protest, I don’t see anything wrong in that.
“Even in civilised countries, they still hold protests, so it is not proper for Buhari to stop the protest.”
Spokesman for the Northern Elders Forum,
Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said by stopping a peaceful protest, “the police
would be working against the Nigerian Constitution.”
“Protest is part of the freedoms
guaranteed in the Nigerian Constitution and I don’t see why it will not
be allowed. It is the job of the police to make sure that protests are
peaceful. In other countries, you see the police there escorting
protesters; so long as they do not violate the law through violence and
so on, they can go on with their protests,” he added.
The spokesperson for the Ijaw Youth
Congress, Mr. Eric Omare, said it was ironic that the President
Buhari–led government, “which came into power based on protests against
the former President,” would try to prevent Nigerians from protesting.
He described the move as anti-people and an infringement on the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
“We are in support of the planned protest by Tuface and the government should not try to stop it,” he said.
President, Arewa Youth Consultative
Forum, Mr. Yerima Shettima, said it “would be out of place for any
commissioner of police under a democratic government to threaten to
subdue peaceful protesters with state powers.”
“It is no story that certain things are
not right in the government and Nigerians are very angry. If you deprive
people of the right to protest, automatically, what you are doing is
killing them and denying them the right to talk and the consequences of
that will be unimaginable,” he said.
National Publicity Secretary, Nigeria
Advance Party, Mr. Tosin Odeyemi, also condemned Buhari and his aides
for allegedly using the police to muzzle people with dissenting voices.
“Buhari is not tolerant of criticisms;
the same party that staged protests against former President Goodluck
Jonathan when it was in the opposition is now preventing protests,” he
said.
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights also warned against any attempt by the police to stop the planned protest.
The group’s President, Mr. Malachy
Ugwummadu, said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents
on Friday that rather than stop the protest, the police were duty bound
to provide protection to the protesters.
Ugwummadu said apart from sections 38,
39 and 40 of the Constitution, which guarantee the rights of Nigerians
to associate, move and assemble freely, the Supreme Court had, as far
back as 2007, nullified the requirement of obtaining police permit as a
pre-qualification to protest.
“Without going into the merit of the
planned protest, my admonition to the police and the government is to
provide protection to the Nigerian people who have found their voices
and are ready to give concrete expression to their voices.
“I, therefore, urge the good people of
Nigeria, especially those who reside in Lagos, to join us en masse at
Ikeja for the rally. We cannot be intimidated in our own country by the
same people who are paid to protect us,” he said.
Deputy Coordinator, National Association
of Nigerian Students (South-West), Mr. Saheed Afolabi, who pledged the
support of students for the planned protests, also expressed worry over
the current hardship in the country.
He said, “I, the Deputy Coordinator of
NANS in the South-West, am ready to join the protest. We are not going
to attack anybody or cause violence but we will use the opportunity to
express our minds. The hunger is too much.”
Chairman, Civil Societies Coalition for
Emancipation, Osun State, Mr. Suleiman Adeniyi, said any attempt by
anyone to stop a peaceful protest would be illegal.
“So no President or commissioner of
police has the right to stop Tuface from staging a peaceful protest
because it will be undemocratic,” he said.
Coordinator, Academic Staff Union of
Universities, Port Harcourt Division, Prof. Beke Sese, and a human
rights activist, Mr. Alagoa Morris, also knocked the Federal Government
for attempting to use the police to stop the protest.
They said it would be fool-hardy and undemocratic to prevent Nigerians to ventilate their grievances on the state of the nation.
The don said, ‘’First and foremost, the
question is: is the protest necessary? And I will say categorically that
the protest is necessary. If you look at Nigeria today, throughout my
life up to my adult life, I can’t remember a stage in the history of
Nigeria when we have experienced the level of suffering that we are
experiencing currently.”
On his part, Morris, who is the Bayelsa
State Coordinator, Environmental Rights Action, described any move to
block a peaceful protest as “antidemocratic, unthinkable and misplaced.”
Chairman, Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian
Universities, Prof. Kimse Okoko, said, “Stopping the protest would mean
that they want Nigerians to bottle up their anger and that would not be
good for us as a country.”
Also, Deputy Director, Communications
and Public Relations, Civil Liberties Organisation, South-South, Mr.
Livingstone Wechie, said “any government that suppresses the right of
the people can be said to be tyrannical and dictatorial.”
A factional Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Kwara State chapter, Mr. Iyiola Oyedepo; the Executive
Director, Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy, Mr.
Taiwo Otitolaye, and the President, Afonja Descendants Union, Kwara
State, Mr. Olola Kasum, also said that it would be wrong for the Federal
Government to stop the planned protest.
In separate interviews with one of our
correspondents in Ilorin on Friday, they described protest as an
integral part of democracy.
Human rights activist and lawyer, Yemi Adetoyinbo, said the citizens had “constitutional rights to hold peaceful protests.”
NLC, TUC, ULC declare support for rallies
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress,
the newly formed United Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress
have declared support for the planned protests and the right of the
citizens to hold peaceful rallies.
The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr.
Peter Ozo-Eson, said that all citizens have the right to peaceful
protest and that it does not require approval from the government.
The NLC’s scribe said, “Citizens have
the right to protest. This right is not contingent on the approval of
government or the police.
“This is settled and has been upheld by a
Supreme Court ruling. We stand by the fundamental rights of citizens to
peacefully protest.”
Speaking also, the President, ULC, Mr. Joe Ajaero, noted that it would be impossible for the government to outlaw protests.
Ajaero, who is also the General
Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees, said any
attempt to arrest protesters would only make them more popular.
“No one can outlaw protests. Every Nigerian has the right to
protest on issues he is not comfortable with. If you persecute
protesters, you popularise and legitimise them,” he said.
President, TUC, Mr. Bala Kaigama, also said that Nigerians have the right to hold peaceful protests.
“Every Nigerian has the fundamental human right to hold
whatever protest they want; there is freedom of association and
assembly,” he said.
The United Kingdom has also declared support for the planned
rallies, describing protests as part of the democratic system when
conducted in an orderly manner.
It, therefore, admonished those participating in the rallies to be peaceful and orderly.
“The UK recognises that protests are part of the democratic
system when conducted in an orderly manner. Those taking part in an
orderly and peaceful protest should not be prevented from doing so
provided the protest was organised lawfully,” Joe Abuku, Press and
Public Affairs Officer, British High Commission, said in a comment on
the planned protests.
He added, “We urge anyone intending to protest to do so peacefully.”
Reacting to the criticisms against attempts by the police to
stop the planned protests, Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media
and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Friday said politicians who lost
out in the 2015 general elections were behind the move.
Adesina spoke on a radio programme monitored in Ibadan,
where he also said that although protest was legitimate in a democratic
society, the police had the right to stop it.
Adesina said, “In a democracy, protests are legitimate,
also, the security agencies have the right to ensure that they do not
degenerate. The President is not home now. In Nigeria today, you have a
large number of people who seem not to forget that the 2015 elections
have gone and have been won. The other group is the group that will
always complain, even if angels come to rule Nigeria.
“Then you have people who believe in free money, there is no
more free money, those people will also join the protest. Genuinely
concerned people have ways to protest. There are millions of people who
are with the President, and I believe that the people who are with the
President are more than those who are not with him.”
