The Legal Right Of Nigerians To Protest Against Government

[caption id="attachment_16640" align="alignnone" width="700"]Femi Falana, Rights Lawyer[/caption]

To activist-lawyer Femi Falana, the Police have no constitutional power to permit, prevent or abort any public demonstration, which one of the lawful fundamental rights. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) says the law enforcers can only do so by applying for judicial injunction with evidence that such a gathering could breach public peace.

About a year later, the regime dispatched armed thugs to attack and disperse the Bring Back our Girls (BBOG) members in Abuja for reminding the state of its responsibility to free the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. As if the barbaric attack was not enough, the Nigeria Police Force banned public protests in the Federal Capital Territory. The illegal ban was successfully challenged at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in the unreported case of Hadiza Bala Usman &Ors v Commissioner of Police & Anor. (Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/1693/2014 of 30th October, 2014). In upholding our submissions, the court held that “it is wrong for the counsel to the respondent (IGP) to insist that the applicants must obtain Police Permit before they can gather together for their peaceful protests.”

When public rallies were similarly banned in Abuja last year, the BBOG members ignored it and continued their protests. Other aggrieved groups equally defied illegal police ban on public protests. In the circumstance, the National Assembly was compelled to amend the Public Order Act in line with the judgment of the Court of Appeal in IGP v ANPP (2008) 12 WRN 65. Thus, Section 94 (4) of the Electoral Amendment Act, 2015, states: “Notwithstanding any provision in the Police Act, the Public Order and any regulation made thereunder or any other law to the contrary, the role of the Nigeria Police Force in political rallies, processions and meetings shall be limited to the provision of adequate security as provided in Subsection 1 of this section.”

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In conclusion, since democracy admits freedom of expression, the right of Nigerians to hold protests, marches, rallies and demonstrations for or against the government, should no longer be enjoyed at the whims and caprices of the ruling class. Therefore, the incessant disruption of public meetings and rallies by the police and other security agencies should always be resisted by the Nigerian people. As any of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution can only be abridged or restricted by a procedure permitted by law, a police officer who has information that any rally or demonstration may lead to a breakdown of law and order is advised to apply for a an injunctive relief in a competent court of law.

Incidentally, the Honourable Justice Adekeye JSC (rtd), who delivered the historic judgment of the Court of Appeal which confirmed the illegality of Police Permit, is a member of the Nigeria Police Service Commission. We have no doubt that the respected Justice will rightly advise the Nigeria Police Force to stop the illegal practice of insisting on the issuance of permit for political meetings and rallies.

In particular, the attention of the court was not drawn to the case of Attorney-General of Anambra State v. Attorney-General of the Federation. where Uwais CJN (as he then was) had held that “The Constitution in Section 215, Subsection (1) clearly gives the Governor of Anambra State the power to issue lawful direction to the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, in connection with securing public safety and order in the s tate.”

In the circumstance, the Court of Appeal correctly jettisoned its decision in Chukwuma v Commissioner of Police (supra) and affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court on the illegality of police permit.

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Protests against government are not treasonable

In a special broadcast on the eve of the industrial action and public protests, former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded the right of Nigerians to kick against the painful economic programme of subsidy removal. Both the Attorney-General of the Federation and the IGP also conceded that Nigerians were constitutionally entitled to protest peacefully against official policies.

Notwithstanding such official pronouncements, armed police personnel detailed to monitor the strikes and the protests opened fire and killed unarmed protesters in Ilorin, Kano and Lagos. Embarrassed by the incident the Police Commissioner, Mr. Kasali ordered the arrest of the trigger-happy cop, apologised to the parents of the deceased and promised to prosecute the suspect as there was no basis for his action since the protests in Lagos were peaceful.

However, despite the fact that over two million demonstrators on the streets of Lagos conducted themselves peacefully, armed soldiers were deployed in a desperate bid to suppress the protests on the orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces President Jonathan.

As there was no insurrection to be contained by the army as envisaged by Section 217(2)(c) of the Constitution, the deployment of the armed troops was roundly condemned by Nigerians. Instead of protesting the usurpation of the constitutional duties of the police by the armed forces, the IGP addressed a news conference in Abuja wherein he justified the deployment and threatened to charge demonstrators with treasonable felony. The spokesperson for the Department of State Services (DSS), Mrs. Mary Ogar, also accused some leaders of the civil society for making inciting statements which could provoke terrorism!

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The right to protest

Since Nigeria is under a democratic dispensation, it is germane to join issues with an elected regime that is bent on imposing fascism on the country. More so, that Nigerians fought and defeated murderous military juntas to pave the way for the restoration of civil rule. Hence, when a cabal of power mongers attempted to plunge the nation into crisis, following the ill-health of former President, the late Yar’Adua in November 2009, the civil society groups staged peaceful protests in Lagos and Abuja. It was those protests that culminated in the emergence of Dr. Jonathan as the Acting. Ironically, when the police authorities asked for police permit for the demonstrations, I reminded the IGP Mr. Ogbonna Onovo of the case of IGP V. ANPP (supra) wherein the Court of Appeal had declared that the requirement of police permit for public protests was illegal and unconstitutional.

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