Followikng
reports that the police is trying to stop pop star, 2face Idibia from
staging a nationwide protest, Fayose and Adegboruwa have reacted to it.
2face Idibia
Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman of the
Governors’ Forum of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, has knocked the
Federal Government and the Nigeria Police for planning to stop a protest
for good governance by a musician, Mr. Innocent Idibia, a.k.a. 2Face.
Also, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has said
nothing, including the police, can stop the planned peaceful rally being
organised by the musician.
The rally, which 2face planned to lead in the Lagos metropolis next
week, is to protest against the current economic hardship being faced
by the masses.
2face had since last month began the campaign, urging Nigerians to
keep a date with him as he took to Lagos streets to protest against the
manner the government was handling the economy.
Earlier in the week, the musician, in a video posted on his Facebook page, explained the idea behind the rally and the need for Nigerians to join him in the peaceful protest.
But in a statement on Thursday, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the police would not allow the rally to hold, because it could easily be hijacked by miscreants.
“We know that 2face does not have the capacity to contain such a
crowd and we will not fold our hands and watch while things go out of
hand,” Owoseni said.
But Fayose said that the police’s stand was a ploy to stop a legitimate civil act.
In a press statement issued by the Special Assistant on Public
Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, in Ado Ekiti on Thursday,
the governor said, “Leadership is about accountability. To be
accountable, leaders must listen to public opinion either by civil and
peaceful protest.
“The court of appeal’s judgment in the ANPP vs IGP allows for
such protest or gathering without police permit or interference as in
advanced democracies. The protest is said to be for and about good
governance. So, who is afraid of the protest? Who do the police
represent in this issue?
“Nigerians are hungry and angry, our currency is above N500 to a US dollar.
“Nepotism, extrajudicial killings, disobedience to court order
and human right abuse must stop. The conscience is an open wound and the
guilty is afraid.”
Adegboruwa, who had earlier said he would join the 2face rally,
also said the police did not have any legal backing to stop the protest
and urged the police CP to study his copy of the Nigerian constitution
before coming out to make such a statement.
Adegboruwa said Owoseni’s statement was an attempt to intimidate
Nigerians who wish to partake in the rally, adding that it could never
deter “we, veterans, and indeed the deprived, oppressed and hungry
people of Nigeria.”
The lawyer said, “For the information of the police
commissioner, Nigeria is a democratic country governed strictly in
accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
“Section 39 of the constitution grants freedom of expression,
including the right to be heard and to disseminate information and
ideas.
“Section 40 grants the right to associate and gather together.
Section 38 grants the right to freedom of movement and peaceful
assembly.
“I believe that Mr. Fatai Owoseni has a copy of the
constitution, to guide his actions and utterances on this matter,
instead of threatening innocent and law-abiding citizens, who are
responsible for his salary.
“The issue of police permit for citizens to gather freely,
expired with the coming into force of the 1999 Constitution and we
cannot now go back to the military era of shutting up citizens from
legitimate expressions.”
Vowing that the rally could not be stopped, Adegboruwa urged “the
good people of Nigeria, especially those who reside in Lagos, to join
us en mass at Ikeja, for the rally on February 6, 2017.
“We cannot be intimidated in our own country, by the same people who are paid to protect us.
“…So, come rain or shine, we shall hold the rally on Monday, as
scheduled, because it is illegal for the police to seek to ban a lawful
assembly.”
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