4th January, 2012
As expected, Nigerians have risen in unison to condemn the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol, announced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, on New Year day with protests in different parts of the country.
The protests which are ongoing, have led to the death of a protester in Ilorin, Kwara State, while protesters in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and some parts of the country were tear-gassed by the police deployed to stop the demonstrations.
In some states, the policemen deployed to stop the riots have applied brute force, using arms bought with tax payers’ money to attack protesters.
At this juncture, it is pertinent to state that protests and demonstrations are essential features of a representative democracy. The electorate in a democracy have the right, enshrined in the statute books, to express their feelings regarding the action or inaction of their leaders who are supposed to be their representatives in government.
The electorate in a democratic government like the one installed by Nigerians on 16 April, 2011 have the right to protest any government policy which directly or indirectly affects them. In protesting against what they perceived as bad policy by government, the people can choose between physical demonstration and refusal to do government biddings or pass a vote of no confidence on it by voting it out during elections.
It is in this regard that we viewed the extreme violence visited on Nigerians protesting against the withdrawal of petrol subsidy by the police and other law enforcement agents in some parts of the country, as wicked, inhuman and callous.
We maintain that the police have no right to kill protesters who have chosen a legitimate form of expressing their grievances against an excruciating government policy. The police should not be seen as displaying bestiality when controlling riots in a democratic setting. Our policemen should emulate their counterparts in other countries who exhibit utmost civility while handling protests.
We deplore yesterday’s killing of a protester in Ilorin by policemen. We also condemn the firing of teargas by men of the Lagos crime fighting outfit, Rapid Response Squad, led by their commander, Tunde Sobulo, a Deputy Commissioner of police, on harmless protesters, including Alhaja Ganiat Fawehinmi, Mr. Femi Falana, Dr. Dipo Fasina, Abiodun Aremu, Issa Aremu, deputy president of the Nigeria Labour Congress and others, yesterday at Maryland.
Reports indicate that in an attempt to disperse the protesters who were marching peacefully to the late Gani Fawehinmi cenotaph at Ojota, where they intended to hold a rally to condemn government action, men of the RRS fired teargas at them, not minding that some of them are old and could be affected by the poisonous substance.
A better approach would have been to guide and provide security for these peaceful protesters to their destination without using the teargas to disperse them.
It is our opinion that law enforcement agents throughout the country should tread softly in their attempt to quell the ongoing demonstrations against the removal of fuel subsidy. After all, the policemen and their families are also adversely affected by the effects of the subsidy removal. They buy from the same markets as other ordinary Nigerians.
Law enforcement agents should be warned against deploying maximum violence when they confront harmless protesters. They should try as much as possible to prevent avoidable deaths during the protests. As we stated earlier, protesters are only exercising their right to express their feelings against an obnoxious policy of the government. They should not be mowed down by those paid to protect them. Protesters are not government enemies and should not be treated as such.