In a display of their usual overzealousness and lack of respect for individual rights, the police initially attempted to stop the two-day peaceful protests held in several cities on Monday to highlight the economic hardship citizens are passing through and failure of government’s policies to address it. Citing security threats, based on doubtful intelligence reports, the police successfully bullied one of the protest leaders, popular singer, Innocent Idibia, into calling off the nationwide public demonstration, even before it got off the ground. We are pleased that freedom-loving Nigerians successfully took to the streets in defiance of the police threats.
Police sabre-rattling was not only a flagrant disregard for the constitutional rights of Nigerians, but also a deplorable assault on the country’s democracy. It is even more appalling and curious that the police opposed the demonstration even after Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, avowed the administration’s acknowledgement of peaceful protests as the “fundamental right of the people.” If the Acting President, a law professor, was not bothered about people exercising their rights to protest, why should the police be so paranoid?
By their actions, the police have once again shown that they are yet to purge themselves of the jackboot mentality of the past, where actions they perceived to be embarrassing to the government were enthusiastically put down. That is wrong; there can never be true democracy without demonstrations or protests. In every democratic society that is worth its name, people are bound to have dissenting views, and these views are sometimes expressed through public protests and demonstrations.
Far back in December 2007, the judiciary had enthroned constitutional democracy and the right of citizens to congregate by nullifying the offensive Public Order Act, a colonial relic. In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal had declared, “The Public Order Act, which insists on police approval for rallies or peaceful assembly infringed on the fundamental human rights provided for in the 1999 Constitution.” It is, therefore, uncharitable of the police to deny Nigerians their fundamental human rights.
A good example of a true democracy at work is the United States, which is currently experiencing a wave of protests against the unconventional policies of their new president. Right from Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, protests have been taking place in different US cities. As long as such protests remain peaceful, there can hardly be any clashes with the police. The least that is required of the police in that situation is to provide the protesters with security, not to violently break them up or force them to abandon their plans before they see the light of day.
In Romania, over 500,000 people have been emptying into the streets on a daily basis for the past one week to protest the passage of a decree decriminalising some aspects of certain graft offences, which would also protect politicians from prosecution. The protesters, who forced the government to quickly withdraw the law, have not backed down despite having their wishes granted.
For daring to enact such a law in the first place, the protesters now believe the government could no longer be trusted with the responsibility of taking the right decisions and should, therefore, be sacked. Such is the power of the citizens, the actual custodians of sovereignty. Given what transpired in 1989 when, in a similar street protest, they defied the guns of the soldiers and the state police to chase away their then communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, nothing should be put past these brave Romanians.
The police intimidation has further dented the image of the Muhammadu Buhari government. Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, benefitted from the right to hold rallies in November 2014. The Goodluck Jonathan government allowed the then opposition APC to stage its “Salvation Rally” in Abuja, with the likes of Buhari, then the APC Presidential Candidate, John Odigie-Oyegun, Rotimi Amaechi and Segun Oni in the crowd. Why then were the police against the current rallies?
The excuse by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Fatai Owoseni, that criminals would hijack the protest to wreak havoc in Lagos was puerile. The Force Headquarters also insulted the public in a statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, claiming that counter-protests were in the offing, which could lead to clashes and a breach of the peace. The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has a duty to bring the Nigeria Police up to speed on standards obtainable in other parts of the world.
It is not surprising that the police campaign against the freedom of association attracted condemnation from a Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, among other Nigerians. Soyinka, who was prominent in the fight to redeem Nigerian democracy from the iron-fisted grip of military dictator, Sani Abacha, said the police were dragging the country back by their crude arm-twisting actions. He said, “An important reminder: the battles for the right of lawful assembly of citizens in any cause, conducted peacefully, have been fought and won several times over.”
Femi Falana, a lawyer and human rights activist, stated that cases of the inalienable right of Nigerians to assemble or associate had been settled under the Nigerian law. If that is the case, then Idibia, also known as Tuface, had no reason to have beaten a fast retreat. Freedoms are usually fought for; they are not given on a platter. In spite of the guarantees of the law, Nigerians should be ready to fight for their rights if those holding them in trust are not ready to let go. The courage of Monday’s protesters should be the new normal.
