Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has accused security forces of
intimidating Nigerians who partook in the #RevolutionNow
protest.
Around 8am on Monday, some Nigerians took to the streets to join
the protest which held in different parts of the country.
In an interview with TVC, Falana said an ideal course of action
would have been for the Department of State Services (DSS) and the
police to obtain court order and prevent the protest from holding
if they had evidence that public peace would be disrupted.
“Nigerians have the right to protest peacefully, whether you
call it a revolution or whatever. The entire razzmatazz of police
action is totally unnecessary,” Falana said.
“Since the state had the information for over two weeks that
these guys were planning a protest, the police and the state
security services have the right to go to court and ask for an
order that this protest can not take place.
“To violate the provisions of chapter 4 of the Nigerian
constitution on fundamental rights, it must be in accordance with
the procedures of the law. In other words, if you’re going to
detain Sowore, there has to be a court order.”
Falana made an example of Ghana’s independence anniversary in
2007 and how the inspector general of police obtained an injunction
to prevent the disruption of the celebration rather than stopping
the protest.
“That is how it should be done in Nigeria. We expected the
police to find out. Was there a genuine move to have a
revolutionary overthrow of the Nigerian state? Frankly speaking, I
haven’t seen any,” he said.
“If the Nigerian state has information, you make it available to
the court and obtain a court order. But this business of ‘Treason
is being committed’ and moving out troops to intimidate people is
totally uncalled for.”
On Saturday, the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested
Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action
Congress (AAC) in the 2019 elections, for “threatening public
safety”.
Subscribe ToNairalaw News!
Read more police-action-unnecessary-says-falana-on-revolutionnow-protest/