Prominent civil Rights advocacy Group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Switzerland and the United Nations Secretary General in New York to mount pressure on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to deploy armed security operatives to kill off peaceful protesters planning series of peaceful protests on October 1st 2024 to demonstrate against the heightened costs of living and bad governance.
HURIWA said its decision to make use of the media of mass communication to appeal to the United Nations is due to mounting evidence that the federal government of Nigeria under president Bola Ahmed Tinubu is already deploying well armed security operatives to shoot at peaceful marchers on October 1st just as these armed goons carried out targeted killings of over two dozens of protesters who participated in the August 2024 #ENDBADGOVERNANCE# protests across the Country. HURIWA stated that those who killed peaceful protesters would be pencilled down and dragged to the International Criminal Court in The Hague Netherlands over crimes against humanity. “We are warning the military and police service chiefs including the head of the nations secret police to note that they may have to be dragged to the ICC in The Hague Netherlands to be held accountable over the lawless killings of peacefully protesters in Nigeria no matter how long it takes to achieve this objective by the organised civil Rights community in Nigeria.”
In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA said it was shocked that for nearly two months since after many peaceful protesters were extrajudicially killed by armed security forces deployed by the Nigerian government, the United Nations and virtually all the so-called leading lights of democracy such as the President of the USA, Mr. Joe Biden, the PM of UK and Canada and the European Union leaders maintained conspiratorial silence over these bloodshed by the Nigerian government and have continued to do business with the Nigerian government even when civilians were massacred by security agents for simply exercising their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms to hold peaceful demonstrations in Nigeria. HURIWA stated that the continuous suppression of civic space by government making use of brute forces of armed security operatives is capable of endangering constitutional democracy in Nigeria.
HURIWA reminded the UN Human Rights Council of her obligations to protect human rights defenders and ensure that member Nations of the United Nations such as Nigeria which subscribed to several human rights treaties, respect, uphold and protect the Constitutionally protected fundamental freedoms just as the UNHRC stated in its official mandate thus: “Everyone has the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, which are essential components of democracy. The right of peaceful assembly includes the right to hold meetings, sit-ins, strikes, rallies, events or protests, both offline and online. The right to freedom of association involves the right of individuals to interact and organize among themselves to collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests. This includes the right to form trade unions. Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association serve as a vehicle for the exercise of many other rights guaranteed under international law, including the rights to freedom of expression and to take part in the conduct of public affairs. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association is protected by article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
HURIWA reminded the United Nations Human Rights Council that: “UN Human Rights has a mandate to promote and protect the right of peaceful assembly and association. This involves providing technical advice, tools and guidance to all stakeholders on measures needed to facilitate and protect the enjoyment of these rights as well as conducting monitoring and reporting on how these rights are protected in practice. We also provide advice and monitoring of the management of protests, including on the use of force and supporting the promotion of dialogue to address the issues that underlie protests. Additionally, our work involves advising on the enabling environment and legal framework needed for the operation of associations”.
HURIWA then expressed disappointment that both the Secretary General of the UN, the president of the UN Human Rights Council did nothing to protest the needless and lawless killings of protesters in Nigeria by a democratically constituted federal administration led by Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu and demand accountability just as the Rights group is hereby demanding that the United Nations Secretary General should instruct the Country office of the UN in Nigeria to speak with the federal government of Nigeria on the need to protect protesters staging peaceful demonstrations on October 1st just as the Rights group demands that the UN Human Rights Council sends powerful observers from the UN’s office in Nigeria to monitor the protests of October 1st to ensure that peaceful marchers aren’t killed like it was last August. “On no account should the security forces in Nigeria use brute force to quell peaceful protests. We reject the use of the state High courts to scuttle constitutional freedoms through subterfuge and ex-parte orders.”
HURIWA recalled that the#EndBadGovernance protests, which rocked several parts of the country in August, were provoked by discontent over the rising cost of living even as the Rights group affirmed that if it holds as planned, October 1st#FearlessInOctober protest, which coincides with Nigeria’s Independence Day anniversary, will be the second mass protest to hit the President Bola Tinubu government inaugurated on May 29, 2013.
The organisers as quoted by the media have maintained that all is set for the demonstration, stressing that its primary focus is on the high cost of governance, soaring electricity prices, exorbitant interest rates, persistent insecurity, unpaid pensions, the burden of student debt, stagnant wages, rampant corruption, and the suppression of dissent.
They also called for re-nationalising the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the electricity distribution companies.
National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, confirmed that mobilisation efforts are underway, with Nigerians nationwide rallying in support.
He revealed that a formal letter requesting adequate security for the protesters was sent to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
“Preparations are in top gear,” Sanyaolu said. “Nigerians are mobilising from every corner of the country. We have also written to the Inspector General of Police, informing him of our protest locations and reminding him of the police’s constitutional duty to protect protesters, not suppress them as we’ve seen in the past.”
He further noted that the protest would only be called off if the current administration addressed the protesters’ demands.
“The only way the Tinubu regime can prevent this protest from happening is to address the demands of the Nigerian people,” Sanyaolu declared. “They must reverse the fuel price hike, release all arrested protesters, and bring an end to the crippling inflation in the country.”
The Lagos State Government advised the organisers not to disrupt social and economic activities.
It reiterated that the governor’s directives to the Lagos State Police Commissioner to maintain public safety and order during the protest still stand.
The state government also stressed that a Lagos High Court order restricting the protest to Freedom and Peace Parks in the Ojota and Ketu areas of the state remains binding.
At a press briefing last Thursday, the protest organisers stated that the event in Lagos would commence at Ikeja Underbridge at 7:30 a.m., with participants marching through various streets to raise awareness of what they described as the federal government’s ‘anti-poor policies’.
They also requested that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Ishola, provide adequate security for all protesters in line with the Police Establishment Act 2020.
Responding to questions by some journalists on the issue yesterday, the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is not opposed to any group of residents expressing their views about any government by way of public protest, but that such expression must be done within the confines of the law.
Pedro said a Lagos High Court had restricted protests in the state to Freedom and Peace Parks and urged the protesters to respect the order.
He said: “We have and shall continue to engage the civil societies and NGOs in Lagos who are genuinely interested in the development of Lagos State to explain and enlighten them that Governor Sanwo-Olu is not opposed to any group of residents expressing their views about any government by way of public protest, as it is their fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of Nigeria of 1999.
Similarly, the Director of Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, did not respond to calls or messages regarding the protest.
However, a police signal sighted by our reporters indicated that the IGP had instructed Commissioners of Police nationwide to engage with protest organisers.
The signal, referenced DTO: 261604/09/2024, 0900/DOPS/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.T9/395 X Security General X Re: CB, read: “The IG has ordered you to continue to engage in meetings/dialogue with the leadership of identified groups to dissuade them from the planned protest.
“Deploy covert operatives to all nooks and crannies for intelligence gathering/sharing. All necessary measures should be taken, particularly during the independence celebrations, to ensure nothing untoward is allowed.”
The signal also stressed that any attempts by miscreants or hoodlums to engage in violence or destruction of property should be met with swift resistance.
Commissioners of Police were instructed to ensure officers are on high alert and maintain well-equipped standby units at all levels to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
Similarly, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos over the weekend, representatives from the Police, Department of State Services (DSS), Army, Immigration Service, and Civil Defence Corps called for planned protests to be conducted peacefully.
Commissioner of Police Olarewaju Ishola, who convened the meeting, stressed that while people have an undeniable right to protest, the law also guarantees all citizens’ safety and peaceful existence.
He reassured the public that while protests would be allowed, the police would not tolerate breaking law and order.
“We are not stopping anybody from protesting, it is your legitimate right,” CP Ishola stated. “We will protect all so that miscreants do not hijack it.”
He said demonstrators must respect the rights of others and avoid disrupting public peace.
The police chief also clarified that a recent court order restricting protests to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota would be enforced. “The protesters must keep within the ambience of what the law says, no other place in Lagos is approved,” he added.
Echoing the police’s position, the Director of the DSS in Lagos, Mr Dapo Amao, affirmed that citizens have a right to express their grievances but must do so in a civilised manner.
*Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). September 30th 2024.
