FALANA’S BOMB: BUHARI USING OBNOXIOUS COLONIAL LAWS ON NIGERIANS
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| Mr Femi Falana. |
Human
and civil rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has accused the Muhammdadu
Buhairi-led government of using the repressive colonial laws on Nigerians who
dare to raise their voices against policies they deem anti-people.
He
disclosed this in a paper he presented at the annual public lecture of the
Public Interest Litigation Section of the Nigerian Bar Association held at Aba,
Abia State from November 7-9, 2019.
According to the legal luminary, apart from authorising the police and other security forces
to brutalize peaceful protesters, the Buhari administration has charged
conveners and participants in public protests with treasonable felony,
terrorism and allied offences in the magistrate courts and federal high court;
adding that since the anti democratic cases were ongoing we may not be able to
comment on them.
“The
physical attacks unleashed on protesters by security forces and the
criminalisation of public protests constitute a crude infringement of the
fundamental rights of the Nigerian people to freedom of expression and freedom
of assembly including the right to participate in public meetings, protests
marches and peaceful rallies guaranteed by the Constitution and the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. While drawing the attention of the
federal government to the law which requires the police to provide protection
during protests we shall call for the immediate amendment of section 33 (2c) of the Constitution which permits the use of
such force as is reasonably necessary ‘for the purpose of suppressing a riot,
insurrection or mutiny’”, he said.
Continuing,
he noted that under the British colonial regime in Nigeria, public meetings and
rallies were completely prohibited. The purpose of the ban, he said, was to
prevent the Nigerian people from rising up against the exploitation of the
resources of the country by the alien government. Thus, pursuant to the Public
Order Ordinance and several provisions of the Criminal Code any form of public
meeting or public gathering without official permission constituted a serious
criminal offence. It was under such obnoxious statutes that the Enugu miners’
protest and other workers strikes and the revolt of Aba Market women’s revolt,
the Egba women against double taxation were violently attacked by the colonial
police leading to the cold murder of many unarmed protesters.
“Even
though Nigeria became independent in 1960 the anti people’s laws and policies
of the alien regime were refurbished and retained by the indigenous ruling
class. Hence, successive regimes have engaged in the massive violations of
human rights including the right to protest against policies considered
inimical to the interests of the Nigerian people.
On the right
of citizens to protest, Falana had this to say: “The fundamental right of
citizens to freedom of expression and freedom of association are guaranteed by
Sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999
and articles 10 and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Act (CAP A9)
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. In INEC v Balarabe Musa (2003) 10 WRN
1 the Supreme Court upheld the fundamental right of the Nigerian people to
freedom of association guaranteed by section 40 of the Constitution. According
to Tobi JSC (of blessed memory) ‘While the section vests in the individual the
right to associate, and assembly with other political party, the proviso
restricts the right, and the restriction is to the effect that the provision
will not derogate from the powers of INEC with respect to political parties to
which the Commission does not accord recognition. In other words, section 40
applies only to political parties which INEC accords recognition. In this
respect, section 22 of the Constitution comes into play as that section
provides for conditions to be fulfilled or satisfied before an association can
function as a political party which INEC accords recognition,’” he said.
He further argued that it was pertinent that the right of Nigerian workers to embark on industrial action, picket or lock out was protected by the Trade Union Act; adding that in exercising the right, trade unions were required to follow the procedure set out by the Trade Dispute Act.
“In
recent times, we had situations whereby the police suspended public meetings
without the knowledge or consent of governors while rallies attended by
governors have been disrupted by the Police and other security forces. In All
Nigeria Peoples Party v Inspector-General of Police the claimant held a
rally in Kano on September 22, 2003 to protest the alleged rigging of the 2003
general election. The rally which was attended by party leaders including
General Mohammadu Buhari and other leaders of the plaintiff was violently
disrupted by the police. To put an end to such crude violation of the freedom
of citizens to convene rallies without official harassment the ANPP and 10
other political parties instructed our law firm to challenge the disruption of
the Kano rally.
“It is
interesting to note that a number of Nigerians including lawyers have condemned
Mr Sowore for calling for revolution in the country. The fact that General
Buhari called for the revolutionary transformation of Nigeria under the PDP is
of no moment. In fact, in a recent BBC interview, the Attorney-General, Mr.
Abubakar Malami SAN challenged Mr. Sowore for organising protests after he had
been defeated by President Buhari in the last presidential election. Mr. Malami
SAN might have forgotten that General Buhari held rallies in 2003 and 2007
after his defeat in presidential elections. But Mr. Malami SAN could not have
forgotten the fact that the December 1983 coup de tat which terminated the
second republic was led by General Buahri who was never charged with treason
upon the restoration of democratic rule. "
He quoted
the observation of the Court of Appeal based on the judicial endorsement of the
right of the Nigerian people to protest without police permit and the peaceful
rallies convened by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress
against incessant hike in the prices of petroleum products in 2005 were not
disrupted by the police.
He said
the Court of Appeal had as a result, acknowledged that the Nigerian society was ripe
and ready to be liberated from our oppressive past.
“If this
(the present situation) is the situation, how long shall we continue with the
present attitude of allowing our society to be haunted by the memories of
oppression being meted out to us by our colonial masters through the
enforcement of issuance of permit to enforce our rights under the Constitution,”
he wondered.
Please
get the details of Falana’s presentation here...
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