#ENDBADGOVERNANCE PROTEST: CACOL BEMOANS TRIAL OF PROTESTERS



 




The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL has bemoaned the trial of #EndBadGovernance protesters by the federal government.


 


In a release issued by its Director, Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo on behalf of the organization’s Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran he stated, “It would be recalled that Nigerians staged a nationwide protest against bad governance and economic hardship from August 1–10, 2024. The protest turned violent in some parts of the country, with looting and vandalism recorded in some parts of the country. Subsequently, the police announced the arrest of perpetrators in some states and yesterday, the office of the Inspector General (IG) of Police arraigned 10 protesters, who participated in the recent #endbadgovernance and hunger protest, before a Federal High Court in Abuja.


 


The charges, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, include felony and treason, contrary to Section 96 and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code. The protesters are accused of conspiring to destabilize Nigeria, inciting mutiny, and levying war against the state.


 


The charge sheet marked FHC/ABJ/CR/454/2024, reads: “That you, the above-named defendants, along with others including Andrew Martin Wynne (aka Andrew Povich), a British citizen, male, Lucky Ehis Obiyan, male, Comrade Musa Abdullahi, male, and others now at large, are accused of conspiring between July 1, 2024, and August 4, 2024, at Karshi, Abuja FCT, within the jurisdiction of this court, with the intent to destabilize Nigeria by committing felony, to wit: treason. This offense is contrary to Section 96 and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code.”


 


From all indications, we at CACOL believe that the arraignment is unnecessary. Those who committed murder, arson or vandalism by destroying properties could be isolated and tried according to the law of the land.


 


If government policies did not elicit mass hunger which later translated to mass anger it is not likely that anybody will look the government in the face and call a sitting government a bad government. Even those in government cannot say that the policies that caused hunger in town are in sync with what the people would approve, so if they express their disapproval of such policies, they should not be blamed for it.


 


Moreover, it is the responsibility of the government to protect the lives and properties of the people. Since the organizers of the protest gave enough notice before the commencement of the protest, that arson and vandalism were recorded during the protest can be attributed to negligence on the part of the government who ought to have put the necessary security apparati in place to prevent wanton destruction of properties.


 


“This is why CACOL, as a civil society organization, is lending its voice to the call on the President to grant the protesters immediate prerogative of mercy knowing that they have genuine reasons to stage the protest. The federal government must immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested during the protest for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, instead of resorting to putting them through trumped-up charges just to justify unlawfully detaining them and thereby subjecting them to unnecessary psychological torture. To the best of our knowledge, peaceful protest is not and should not be linked with any crime against the state, especially “Treason”.


 


 

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