The Glare of Oppression – By Arnold A. Alalibo

Posted by admin Arnold Alalibo, Articles, Columnists, NNP Columnists Thursday, July 3rd, 2014

By Arnold A. Alalibo | NNP | July 3, 2014 – I am really bothered about the growing obstacles to the free expression of fundamental rights of Nigerians. We can no longer broach free speech, exercise our right to peaceful protest and freedom of association in the country.

My worry stems from the recent travails of fellow Nigerians, Japhet Omojuwa and Uche Briggs, both leaders of a group of young protesters who carried placards urging government action on the recent abduction of over 200 girls from Chibok, a rustic settlement in Borno State, by men of the Boko Haram insurgent group.

Omojuwa and Briggs were arrested by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), and detained for several hours. I consider such arrest and detention a breach of the right of the two young Nigerians.

The 1999 Constitution guarantees every Nigerian the right to self-expression and association as long as the exercise of such right does not interfere with the right of others.

In the last few months, law enforcement agents including the police, NSCD and the Department of State Security, DSS, in an attempt to keep peace and enforce law and order, have evolved new tactics that I insist are high-handed and amount to a bridge of human rights.

The Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), police command is fingered as the main culprit in this respect. For instance, on April 2, 2014, at the Old Secretariat, Area 1, security men forcefully stopped youths protesting the ill-fated recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), on March 15, 2014.

Teargas, whips and batons were used freely on the hapless protesters on the occasion. Similar fate befell members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, (ASUP), and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU), some officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), students and civil society organisations, who were at the Federal Secretariat to press home their demand after a 10-month strike.

What happened that day was reminiscent of the repressiveness of the military era in the late 1980s to early 90s. The DSS and the police strategically cordoned off escape routes for the protesting teachers and civil rights organisations who sought to gain access to the National Assembly.

The peaceful protest was abruptly brought to an end after a hail of teargas canisters was effectively administered on the protesting crowd. Also, the protesters were splashed with hot water mixed with body itching substances. As they fled for safety, the police fired live bullets into the air to further instill fear in their victims.

Many protesters; men, women and students from schools affected by the strike were severely wounded and had to be hospitalised afterwards. There were quite a lot of casualties.

On May 18, 2014, policemen sealed Unity Fountain, Maitama, in the FCT, where the Bring Back Our Girls protests had been holding. The Fountain had been cordoned off earlier to prevent protesters from gaining access to it. But after several hours of heated arguments, they were allowed to use the venue.

Protests involving peaceful processions are not peculiar to the country. But unlike other climes where such protesters are accorded courtesy by law enforcement agents, security agencies in Nigeria are often unduly harsh on citizens.

Though there is a new wave of repression in the country following the state of insecurity, the one perpetrated by the FCT police command under Joseph Mbu is particularly degrading. Mbu takes the blame as far as the manhandling of protesters in the FCT is concerned.

Mbu’s antecedents in Rivers State are well known. Opposition elements in the state accused him of high-handedness in handling protests in favour of the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi. He allegedly issued orders to disperse innocent people who gathered for rallies on the excuse of not having police clearance. In one of such rallies, Senator Magnus Abbe was shot with a rubber bullet.
His advent in the FCT is witnessing an outbreak of similar treatment of protesters, prompting some people to conclude that the police commissioner may be up to his old tricks again.

It is entirely unacceptable for a democratic government to be dispersing peaceful citizens in their gathering. I am surprised that the brutality and authoritarianism Nigerians witnessed under the military are fully replicated in this present democratic dispensation.

Nigerians are feeling very insulted and embarrassed by those recurring ugly incidents. It is even more discomfiting the way the police attend the Bring Back Our Girls peaceful rallies with machine guns, hot water tanks and all manner of weapons to stop Nigerians from assembling.

The rising wave of authoritarian practices must be checked as it portrays our country in a very bad light, to say the least. Law enforcement agents must realise that they are duty-bound to enforce people’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association as enshrined in our constitution. Acting in the contrary will surely heighten the existing tension and further complicate the current state of insecurity in the land.

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