If there is anything the retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari regime has displayed as remarkably as its obvious ineptitude, it is its aversion to public criticism. And for all its deficiencies in bettering the lot of Nigerians, it has surprisingly shown effectiveness in clamping down on dissenting voices.
On the one hand, Buhari is saying the youth have a right to protest peacefully. On the other, the regime is clamping down on the promoters of the #EndSARS protests in Gestapo-style. The Central Bank of Nigeria, according to multiple complaints, reportedly instructed banks to freeze the accounts of the promoters of the protests, which they implemented by tracking the ‘narration’ of transactions that included #EndSARS or End SARS. Such narrations were immediately flagged and such accounts that received funds were frozen.
In a suit it filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the CBN accused the blocked account holders of “suspected terrorism financing.” The written address read in part, “the nature of the transactions undertaken through the defendants’ accounts are of suspected terrorism financing in contravention of Section 13(1)(a) and (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013 and Regulation 31(2)(a) and (3)(b) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2013.” If this is not fake news, what else could?
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, got it all wrong when he said, “It was clear that some people were getting to fund this for reasons other than #EndSARS. So, if we know money moved from some accounts that were suspicious, do you say the government should keep quiet?” It is all witch-hunt! Has any financial sponsors of the protests complained of being swindled? Let us get it straight: there is nothing illegal or criminal in donating for peaceful protests as it is the practice in all free and democratic societies unless we want to go the way of China, Russia or even worse, North Korea. There was an outpouring of financial support against police brutality when on May 25, 2020, a white Minneapolis police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck until his body went limp. There was a GoFundMe by Floyd’s family to cover funeral and burial costs; counselling services; legal fees; and continued care for his children. There was also a GoFundMe to provide for his six-year-old daughter, Gianna Floyd, and a GoFundMe to support “peace and healing” for Darnella Frazier, the woman who filmed Floyd’s death. A Gas Mask Fund for Black youth activists in Minneapolis also raised money to buy gas masks for demonstrators who faced teargas during protests. All these never led to either freezing of accounts of sponsors or to a reckless harassment of the promoters.
Not surprisingly, from the outset, the regime has not hidden its intolerance for criticism and protests and it seeks to fully silence dissenting views with the proposed Social Media Bill (the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations; and for Related Matters Bill, 2019). Following the recent #EndSARS protests by youths calling for the disbanding of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad and an end to police brutality, which blossomed on social media and gained international support, the regime’s call for the regulation of social media has grown stronger.
Depressingly, there is no depth that the regime is unwilling to sink to in its desperation to bend national institutions to do its dirty job. For the sake of clarity, it is not the job of the CBN to place embargoes on accounts of peaceful protesters. The CBN is an independent organisation that is supposed to be autonomous as expressly stated in the CBN Act of 2007. In the Act, the operational autonomy of the bank is clearly expressed in line with international best practices to engender stakeholders’ confidence and ensure there is no political interference in the execution of its mandate. Using the CBN to clamp down on dissenters, describing them as terrorists, only sets a dangerous precedent. The enabling law recognises that manipulation of the bank by politicians for selfish interest or to implement policies to bolster popularity could have far-reaching implications for the country.
And typical of the Buhari regime, a campaigner of the #EndSARS movement, Eromosele Adene, was arrested in his home in Lagos and moved to Abuja for planning to hold a protest on November 14. Eromosele, like some others, had allegedly distributed fliers, which contained his mobile phone number, to announce the protest. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had needlessly directed police formations across the country to ensure that there were no more protests across the country.
Under Buhari, Nigeria is fast descending into a full-blown dictatorship. His increasingly authoritarian style of leadership provokes some concern about the future of democracy in the country and well-meaning Nigerians must rise against anything that will take the country back to the Dark Ages. The vibrant energy the regime is displaying in its clampdown on protesters can better be used to meet their demands, which are serious, genuine and long overdue. It is bad enough that the youth had to point out obvious atrocities and brutality committed with impunity by the police who should be protecting them, which have been going on for years; to now be hunted down for it like common criminals is plain wickedness. As English writer, Julian Barnes, noted in Flaubert’s Parrot, “The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonourably, foolishly, viciously.”
The regime should not use the killing and looting carried out by hoodlums as an opportunity to clamp down on the peaceful protesters. What civilised governments do is to identify the criminals who hijacked the protests, carried out arson and destruction, and bring them to justice. Following the death of Mark Duggan, a local man who was shot dead by police on August 4, 2011, London erupted in violent clashes along with the destruction of police vehicles, a double-decker bus and many homes and businesses. The initial peaceful demonstration was hijacked by criminals. But by August 2012, 1,292 rioters had been handed custodial sentences totalling 1,800 years at 16.8 months on an average. The UK government did not use the pretext of the riots to punish peaceful protesters by hounding them and freezing their bank accounts.
The Buhari regime should go after the hoodlums responsible for the carnage witnessed in some states in the country and engage the peaceful protesters to do better. After all, under Section 40 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, every person is entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons. Buhari should stop desecrating the Constitution he swore to defend and protect.
