You Can’t Ban 2Face, Others From Protesting, Keyamo Tells Lagos Police
Mr Festus Keyamo, human rights lawyer[/caption]
Human rights activist and lawyer, Mr Festus Keyamo has weighed in on the controversy trailing the planned nationwide protest by legendary singer, Innocent “2Baba” Idibia, slated for February 6th.
Keyamo, who exclusively spoke with popular blogger, Linda Ikeji, said that the police have no powers to ban a protest unless it gets violent.
Recall that the Lagos State police commissioner, Mr Fatai Owoseni, had placed a ban on the planned protest, citing security threats as his reason.
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But Keyamo tackled the police boss by saying that the police cannot readily place ban on a protest that hasn’t taken place and gotten violent yet.
“The police cannot ban protest. They can only ban violent activities but they cannot ban protest and you cannot know whether a protest would be violent unless violence begins.
“When the violence begins they can now disperse them with minimum force; tear gas, in Europe they use hot water and few things like that.
“You only use what they call minimum force to disperse them when it breaks out, but you cannot predict whether a protest will break down.
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“A protest permit does not guarantee that a protest will not break down. Even when the police are guarding and when the police are there present, it can break down. So generally speaking, every Nigerian has the right to protest.
“All Nigerians have the right to protest whenever they want to protest. Nigerians have the right to protest, that is just the provision of the law. So, whoever feels aggrieved about anything has a right to protest,” the rights lawyer said.
