Tope Temokun, a lawyer and human rights activist, has strongly denounced the government’s move to arm security agencies with court orders to suppress peaceful protests. Temokun described this development as a dangerous precedent, emphasizing that it is ill-conceived and will not withstand scrutiny.
In a statement released on Thursday, Temokun reminded authorities that court orders cannot silence the cries of a hungry and desperate people. He criticized the government’s new policy of seeking court orders to justify clamping down on peaceful protests, inviting military chiefs to enforce these orders, and using violence to quell dissenting voices. Temokun lamented that while young Nigerians are fighting for a better future, the government is squandering resources on suppressing their voices instead of addressing the pressing issues of hunger and deprivation.
The statement read in part: “In a bid to stop the organized hunger protest of August 1 to August 10, in Abuja, the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, approached the High Court of the FCT Abuja on the 31st of July 2024 against Omoyele Sowore and four other activists, potential protesters or leaders of organizing groups. He now listed the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory Command, the Director-General of the Department of State Security Services, Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (who was listed as Director General, instead of Commandant General), the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief Air Staff, and the Chief of Naval Staff as the 6th to the 12th Defendants.”
The statement continued, “Many states of the federation, like Ogun, Lagos and others, no doubt, saw the genius initiative of a Wike and have also activated their Attorney Generals to approach the State Courts to restrict protesters to specific places dictated and assigned to them by the state governments. I will refrain from commenting deeply on the suits in court, but in exercise of freedom of expression that the Constitution freely gives to me, I wish to refresh the minds of the actors in this saga that Section 14 (2) of the Constitution provides for the relationship between the government and the people and says that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom the government through the constitution derives all its powers and authorities and that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government and that the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this constitution.
“On the basis of the above I hasten to say that these suits, to the extent of taking away the constitutional rights of the citizens to democratically participate in this government, through constitutional means of protests, are rooted in unconstitutionality and the various suits and whatever orders given will not stand the test of time.”
The activist stated that the precipitative suits meant to halt peaceful protest are like flogging a child with a long cane and dictating to him how he must cry and the volume of his cry. He said, “This is against the law of nature, just the way the suits are unconstitutional and run afoul of the constitution.
“What the constitution says is that the rights in the constitution shall not override other law that is reasonably justified in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health and for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other persons.
“The question now is, in the face of hunger this biting in massive scale, which law is that law either existent or just enacted that is reasonably justified in a democratic society to halt public protests in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health and for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other persons pursuant to which the governments of these states and the minister of FCT have asked the Court to limit protesters to places chosen by the government.
“This is a protest of hungry citizens, a child of the constitution, not political party rally. The natural habitat of protest is the street, not stadium. Protest, unlike football, is not fun.”
He noted that the “constitution guarantees the right to freedom of movement in its Section 41 which entitles the citizens to move freely in any part of the country…”
“Meanwhile the governments at various levels, including the FCT and Lagos, have hired, monetized, and mobilized some hungry and pale looking Nigerians to stage procession through the same streets to say no to protest, which is also a form of protest. This culture of rushing to court to sabotage constitutional rights will soon backfire,” he said.