Civil Rights Activist Dele Farotimi has faulted the Nigerian Police and the judiciary over their roles in restricting citizens from holding peaceful protests, describing the actions as evidence that Nigeria is merely pretending to be a democracy.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Tuesday, Farotimi said that in a true democracy, citizens do not require a police permit to protest, adding that the police are only to be informed so they can provide security.
He said, “In a democracy, there should never be a need for a police permit before you may have a protest. The police were informed so that they would provide security.
“That a court would presume to curtail the right of citizens to protest peacefully in a democracy is even suggestive of the fact that we’re not in a democracy. We’re only mimicking and pretending to be in one.”
His stance followed a protest by the #FreeNnamdiKanu protesters in Abuja on Monday.
Led by Activist Omoyele Sowore, the agitators marched despite a court order and police warning, as they chanted, “Free Nnamdi Kanu now,” “It’s our constitutional right to protest,” and “Don’t tear gas us,” before the police shots eventually dispersed them.
Farotimi argued that it is “completely unheard of” for citizens in a democracy to need the permission of their “paid employees,” the police, before they can congregate peacefully. He maintained that the judiciary has become an extension of the executive and no longer serves the cause of justice.
“I’m sorry to say our judiciary is unfit for purpose. It does exactly as it is told by the executive and does not serve the cause of justice. An order is only as useful as its lawfulness,” he said.
The activist said citizens who protest peacefully should not be criminalised, emphasising that only violent offenders should face arrest. He recounted his own experience with a “non-existent law,” which he said exposed the dysfunction in the Nigerian legal system.
“I have been the victim of a court case that trailed me and remanded me on a non-existent law. So what kind of court order is going to stop citizens who are not out for violence from peacefully showing their displeasure with the government?” he asked.
Farotimi added that he no longer joins protests because he believes the Nigerian state is “deaf” to the cries of its citizens.
“Why I don’t join protests is because I know they are merely protesting to the deaf. How do you tell the deaf you don’t like what is being done to you? The Nigerian state is deaf; it does not listen,” he said.
“When you talk about protest, the expectation is that the person to whom you are protesting has the capacity to hear you and recalibrate. It has never happened that the Nigerian state recalibrated and did the right thing.”
He further argued that the government’s response to the 2020 EndSARS movement proved that nothing had changed, saying the authorities only rebranded the police unit instead of reforming its operations.
“End SARS, they changed the name to SWAT; today it is RRS. It is the character and nature that have not changed. The Nigerian state does not change anything for anybody. It is not interested in pleasing those who presume themselves to be citizens. It does not care,” Farotimi stated.
Police authorities had defended their use of teargas on demonstrators during the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest in Abuja on Monday.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, speaking on Politics Today, said the move was to prevent damage to critical infrastructure in the heart of the nation’s capital.
“You see, FCT is very big. You can protest anywhere and your voices will still be heard; it will still be reported by the press,” Hundeyin told Channels Television’s Seun Okinbaloye from the Abuja studio.
“These are critical infrastructures that need to be protected. Don’t forget that these are places where protests have happened in the past, and things were destroyed. So, it is our duty as an agency to protect lives and properties and ensure law and order.”
He added that the police acted in line with a court order that restricted protests around Aso Rock Villa, National Assembly, Force Headquarters, Court of Appeal, Eagle Square, and Shehu Shagari Way, stressing that all “lawful steps” taken were necessary to maintain peace.
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