Tinubu’s govt asked to stop criminalising peaceful protests
President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has been asked to stop forthwith the attempt by some Presidency officials such as Mr. Bayo Onanuga to criminalise peaceful protests and other peaceful civic actions aimed at ensuring accountability, transparency and good governance.
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), which made the call on Sunday, condemned the unnecessary shenanigans and unsubstantiated claims made by Onanuga against the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election Mr. Peter Obi, on the issue of protest.
The rights group, in a statement made available to PlatinumPost by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Sunday, affirmed that the statement by Onanuga amounted to a reckless, careless, ruthlessly lawless rumour mongering which is overheating the public space unduly.
HURIWA has asked President Tinubu to call Onanuga to order and caution him to stop behaving and speaking like a fascist because only in fascism or totalitarianism is peaceful assembly by the citizens to agitate for good governance criminalised.
HURIWA also condemned as unconstitutional and illegal, the nation’s security services for the arrest and arbitrary detention of Mr.Junaidu ‘Abusalma’ Abdullahi, a Kano-based TikToker, for mobilising mass protests over the country’s widespread hunger.
The group said it completely backed Amnesty International in demanding the immediate release of Mr Abdullahi, accusing the Nigerian government of punishing him for exercising his fundamental rights.
“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release social media activist Junaidu Abdullahi (Abusalma), who was imprisoned in Kano for posting a viral TikTok video calling for a peaceful protest against widespread hunger across the country. #FreeAbusalma,” Amnesty International was quoted to have stated.
HURIWA said peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and legally recognised means of passing on a message from the citizens to the government on the way forward in the area of framing and implementation of economic, sociopolitical policies that would culminate in the enthronement of good governance and the strict adherence to the democratic and constitutional principles of transparency and accountability by government officials.
The Rights group said it is shameful that someone who claims to be speaking for a democratically constituted central government headed by Tinubu – a tested civil society leader known to have organised, funded and participated in several pro-democracy protests in the past, is now pontificating like a tyrant in his opposition of civil protests.
“It is a fact that the costs of living crisis has become highly combustible and most Nigerians are approaching the points of deaths. Why is this government driving people to their early grave with poor economic policies but yet doesn’t want the dying people to protest? This is wickedness at an unprecedented rate. This is absolutely reprehensible and despicable, ” it said.
HURIWA warned that if the government doesn’t want people to protest peacefully then it is directly telling the hungry and dying population to do their worst which might result in very unpredictable and unpleasant turn of events.
” The government should chase after the black goat now that it is still daytime,” HURIWA added.