Criminalising Dissent In Nigeria

In a now familiar scenario, the Nigerian government has arraigned about 10 persons arrested in connection with the #EndbadGovernance protests that hit major cities in August and charged them with treason.

The police arraigned them at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where they pleaded not guilty to all six charges of conspiracy to commit treason, attempting to destabilise Nigeria, seeking to remove the president, waging war against the government, and inciting mutiny.

According to the charges, the protesters did these by attacking and injuring police officers and torching police stations, the High Court Complex, NCC Complex, Kano Printing Press, Government House Kano, Kaduna Investment and Promotions Agency Office, NURTW Office and “several other buildings”.

The Federal High Court in Abuja had set a bail hearing on September 11 for the 10 protesters charged. They include Michael Tobiloba Adaramoye (aka Lenin), 28; Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi (aka Yomi), 34; and Suleiman Yakubu, 28. Others are Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon, 50; and Angel Love Innocent (the only female among them), 51.

The 10 protesters were among the 124 people arrested in Abuja and other states, including Kano and Kaduna, after the protests to end economic hardship, principally caused by the twin policies of fuel subsidy removal, hike in electricity tariffs, and devaluation of the naira, which sent prices of food and other essential items hitting unprecedented high levels. If convicted, the protesters could face a possible death penalty or long prison sentences.

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But that is where President Bola Tinubu’s government could face severe problems because Nigerians are not about to be cowed by the government’s tactic to intimidate the public as it has imposed another fuel price hike on Nigerians.

We consider it ironic that President Bola Tinubu, as an opposition politician, was a master strategist in organising protests against previous government policies.

However, given the likely outcome of this move, we urge the government to rethink its ill-advised decision to charge protesters with treason. It could send an alarming message about its intolerance for dissent. Instead of slamming protesters with a crime punishable by death, the government should appreciate that Nigerians have the right to freedom of expression and demonstrate when they feel sufficiently aggrieved.

There are reports that the police authorities may be using unorthodox methods to extract information from the accused persons. Although we have not been able to independently verify these reports, it is important to let the authorities realise that in a democracy, Nigerians have certain fundamental rights, as guaranteed in the constitution, including the right to protest any anti-people policies.
Before their arraignment, the defendants had spent more than three weeks in police custody following their arrests in Abuja, Kano, and Kaduna between 1 and 10 August.

Already, Amnesty International, a nongovernmental organisation, in a statement, urged the government to release the defendants detained from 1 to 10 August, adding, “We urge the Nigerian authorities to end this mockery of the rule of law,”

It continued, “Amnesty International is deeply concerned that the #EndBadGovernaceInNigeria protesters arraigned nationwide are only going to be subjected to another round of government’s unrelenting intent to punish protesters and demonise protests.”

While this is happening, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has been in and out of security agencies’ custody. He was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on his way to the United Kingdom to attend a Labour-related conference.

The headquarters of NLC had also been besieged in a barely veiled attempt to justify the harassment of the labour movement alleged to be behind the #EndbadGovernance protest.

Also, operatives of the Directorate of State Services (DSS), recently unleashed their venom on the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and laid siege to its office in Abuja.

Already, these attacks on protesters and dissenting groups have continued to receive widespread condemnations from other rights groups and lawyers who perceive what is going on as a significant threat to the fundamental pillars of democracy.

In our opinion, while the government has the constitutional right to maintain law and order, it is also imperative for it to accept that the people are entitled to voice their grievances against state operatives within the limits allowable by the same law.

In this circumstance, we are persuaded to warn that any attempt to muzzle dissent could be counterproductive. Nigerians generally view government policies as inflicting severe hardship on the people.

The pervasive food and energy crises cannot be denied. Nigerians are only reacting to the pain they feel in the hope that the government will notice and ameliorate their sufferings. Criminalising genuine feelings of pain is an inappropriate response not expected of a government that claims to have the people’s interest at heart.