Prof. Wole Soyinka
Olalekan Adetayo, Gbenga
Adeniyi, John Ameh, Eniola Akinkuotu, John Alechenu, Chukwudi Akasike,
Friday Olokor, Adelani Adepegba, Samson Folarin, Ade Adesomoju,
Oladimeji Ramon and Godwin Isenyo
• Reveal your identity, Buhari tells protest sponsors
• We won’t participate in anti-FG protest – Northern group
The organisers of the #RevolutionNow
protests on Sunday met to finalise preparations for the anti-Federal
Government protests they scheduled for Monday (today).
After the meetings, which were held in
Abuja and Lagos, the organisers said they would go ahead with the
protests, despite the arrest of the convener of the #RevolutionNow,
Omoyele Sowore.The ‘RevolutionNow’ organisers said this
just as a pro-Buhari group, #IStandWithBuhari, said it would also
embark on a nationwide counter-rally in support of President Muhammadu
Buhari on Monday (today). This, observers noted, could lead to a clash
between the two groups.
Sowore had declared Monday (today) as
the day of the commencement of a revolutionary protest tagged, “Days of
Rage,” across the country to demand a better Nigeria.
But at 1am on Saturday, operatives of the Department of State Services invaded Sowore’s house in Lagos and arrested him.
The Inspector-General of Police,
Mohammed Adamu, said Sowore was arrested for planning a revolution to
destabilise the government of Buhari and was liable to be charged with
treasonable felony.
One of the organisers of the protests
and popular musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, said the ‘RevolutionNow’
demonstration would hold on Monday despite arrest of Sowore, who is also
the publisher of an online news outlet, Sahara Reporters.
Abdulkareem told The PUNCH that the location of the protests would be communicated to the media on Monday morning.
The ‘Jagajaga’ crooner, while responding
to an inquiry by The PUNCH, said, “Yes, we are still on course. By 6am
on Monday, the information will be communicated to you.”
When asked if the protests would take place nationwide, Eedris said, “Yes, it will hold nationwide on Monday.”
Also, the Legal Adviser of the African
Action Congress, Mr Inibehe Effiong, said the protests would still go on
as planned despite the police threat.
Efiiong noted that the protesters would converge on the National Stadium, Surulere at 7am.
He said, “Yes, we will go on with the
protests. In fact, we just finished a meeting on it. We will only meet
at the National Stadium for the protests and it will be peaceful.”
#IStandWithBuhari group to stage pro-FG protests nationwide today
But a pro-Buhari group, #IStandWithBuhari, said it would embark on nationwide protests on Monday.
The convener of the group, Ogochukwu
Ezeaku, told The PUNCH on Sunday that the protests were being held to
counter the narrative that Buhari was not a popular leader.
He said they were meeting with the
police high command as regards modality and rules of engagement since
the police had said all protests in the FCT must be confined to the
Unity Fountain.
Ezeaku said, “We are holding
demonstrations across the country on Monday. The police have just called
our attention to a release regarding protests. So, we are supposed to
have a meeting with them but it is confirmed that the protests will
hold.”
Sowore’s arrest, a travesty, says Soyinka
However, prominent Nigerians and groups,
including the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka; a human rights lawyer,
Mr Femi Falana; and civil rights organisations, on Sunday supported the
#RevolutionNow protests.
Soyinka, Falana and the groups, in their separate reactions, condemned Sowore’s arrest, describing it as a travesty.
Soyinka, in a statement on Sunday,
titled, “Not Again!” disagreed with the police, saying there was nothing
in Sowore’s actions or words that meant revolution in the sense of
overthrowing the government.
The Nobel laureate, who flayed the
police for the misuse of the word, ‘revolution,’ said Sowore’s arrest
was a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens to congregate and
make their concerns public.
Soyinka said Sowore’s arrest gave him a
sense of déjà vu about how the military junta of the late General Sani
Abacha clamped down on civil protesters, adding that security agents
seemed to have learnt nothing from history.
He said, “Nothing that he (Sowore) said
to me in private engagement ever remotely approached intent to
destabilise governance or bypass the normal democratic means of changing
a government. I, therefore, find the reasons given by the
Inspector-General of Police for the arrest and detention of this young
ex-presidential candidate totally contrived and untenable, unsupported
by any shred of evidence. His arrest is a travesty and violation of the
fundamental rights of citizens to congregate and make public their
concerns.
“This is all so sadly déjà vu. How often
must we go through this wearisome cycle? We underwent identical cynical
contrivances under the late, unlamented Sani Abacha, when he sent
storm-troopers to disrupt a planning session for a similar across-nation
march at Tai Solarin School, Ikenne.
“This was followed up by a personalised
letter that was hand-delivered by the State Security Services to me
under their summons, at their Abeokuta so-called ‘Annexe’ with near
identical wording to the threats contained in today’s release from the
desk of the Chief of Police. At least, I was summoned, not subjected to a
terrorist midnight arrest. Some irony!
“The same pattern Pavlovian conduct
manifested itself under yet another supposed democratic ruler who
personally declared that the gathering of civilians to deliberate on,
and propose a constitution for the nation was ‘high treason’ and would
be resisted by the full rigour of state power if we persisted.
“The Inspector-General of Police
mobilised his forces and issued inflammatory proclamations, but PRONACO
went ahead despite all the thundering from Aso citadel. Can the police
ever learn anything from their tear-gassing and brutalising of grieving
mothers who marched peacefully to protest the deaths of their children
in a plane crash inferno?
“Their mission, under that same regime,
which was simply to deliver a letter to the government house in Lagos,
demanding greater safety in airline operations, yet such a rational
intent, born of traumatic circumstances, was quashed on the sidewalks of
a supposed twentieth century nation.
“And yet again, even a faceless cabal
under yet another civilian regime refused to be left out of the
insensate play of power. A march on Aso Rock calling for an end to
governance by a ghostly entity was slated to be crushed, but
fortunately, a conflicting balance of interests decided in favour of a
reduced trajectory of protest. And so on and on and on, in a nation
which continues to speak at once through both sides of the mouth,
spewing out the same treason monotone, as if this was a magic
incantation that could substitute for the venting of mass feelings, even
as collective therapy.”
Soyinka said in the light of the tension in the country, arrest and detention of protesters would be counter-productive.
“If we cannot learn from the histories
and experiences of other societies, let us, at least, learn from ours.
Freedom is not so glibly qualified. It cannot be doled out like slops of
charity from soup kitchens. Let the police stick to their task of
protecting and managing protests, not attempt to place their own meaning
and declaration of intent on bogey words like – revolution,” Soyinka
said.
Peaceful protests not act of treason, treasonable felony – Falana
Falana also on Sunday condemned the ban of the planned Monday’s protests.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana said
protest marches or call for revolution by the protesters was never an
act of treasonable felony under any law in Nigeria.
He noted that with the proscription of
the Indigenous People of Biafra in 2017 and the recent proscription of
the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, also known as Shi’ites, there was a
dangerous trend categorising the activities of the critics of President
Buhari administration as either terrorism or treasonable felony.
He explained that no provisions of
section 37 and 41 of the Criminal Code Act, and the Terrorism Prevention
(Amendment) Act or any order law criminalised peaceful protests or call
for revolution as an act of treason, treasonable felony, or terrorism.
He noted that the Nigeria Police Force
had only capitalised on the use of the word “revolution” to criminalise
the planned protests.
He wondered why the leaders of the All
Progressives Congress were not charged for claiming to have terminated
the Peoples Democratic Party’s rule through “democratic revolution” in
2015.
He said, “From the above definitions of
treason, treasonable felony and terrorism, it is crystal clear that the
organisers of the peaceful rallies cannot be said to have planned to
engage in acts of terrorism or formed an intention to remove President
Muhammadu Buhari from office.
“The intention of the organisers of the
rallies to protest the worsening security situation in the country,
demand payment of N30,000 minimum wage to workers and job creation for
our army of unemployed youths e.t.c. cannot by any stretch of
imagination be said to constitute terrorism or treason in any material
particular.
“No doubt, the Nigeria Police Force has
capitalised on the use of the word “revolution” to criminalise the
protests. If revolution has become a criminal offence in Nigeria why
were the leaders of the APC not charged for claiming to have carried out
Nigeria’s democratic revolution which terminated the 16-year rule of
the PDP in 2015? Why was Dr Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, the presidential
candidate of the Young Progressive Party not threatened with treason
when he asked Nigerians to rise up for revolution via the 2019 general
elections?
“Did all Nigerian senators led by the
APC members not commit treason or terrorism when they spent one and a
half hours on May 14, 2019 to debate Senator Chukwuka Utazi’s timely
motion on ‘Bridging the gap between the haves and have-not to nip in the
bud the seeds of a looming violent revolution’?”
Nigeria sliding to dark days of military regime – CSOs
Also, some civil society groups also slammed the Federal Government for opposing the planned protests.
The Convener, Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, condemned what he called the abduction of Sowore by the DSS.
He stated, “At a time when democracy is
being entrenched and strengthened all over the world, Nigeria is sliding
back to the dark days of military regime where citizens are being
hounded and afraid to ask salient questions as to how they should be
governed.”
The Advocates of People’s Right and
Justice also condemned the arrest and detention of Sowore, insisting
that it was the right of every citizen to protest by expressing their
opinions on issues that affected them.
The APRJ Coordinator, Victor Giwa,
emphasised that Sowore’s arrest on the basis of a call for protest, “is
illegal and unconstitutional as the protest is to call on citizens to
express their rage if they have any against the government.”
Condemnations also came from the
Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Civil Liberties Organisation,
Middle Belt Youth Council and the National Council of Tiv Youths.
The President of the CDHR, Malachi
Ugwummadu, said the best that the police could do in the circumstance
was to mobilise its operatives to keep proper surveillance on the
protests.
The Director of the CLO, Steve Aluko, told one of our correspondents that citizens had a right to protest.
He said, “It is an ineligible right, the
government that makes policies and programmes that promote inhumanity,
marginalisation and vulnerability of its people only propels the engine
room to incite the people to legitimate revolt.”
Nobody should attempt RevolutionNow protests in Rivers, Wike warns
But the Rivers State State Governor,
Nyesom Wike, warned that nobody should attempt the RevolutionNow
protests in the state, insisting that the state would not be part of it.
Wike, who spoke through a statement
signed by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu,
explained that the state did not subscribe to what such protests
represented.
The governor directed security agencies
in the state to arrest anybody involved in the protests and also take
all necessary steps to prosecute such persons.
Middle Belt youths back anti-FG protesters
Also, the President of the MBYC, Emman
Zopmal, told The PUNCH that President Buhari was overstepping his
constitutional boundaries.
Also, the Third Force Movement of
Nigeria under the umbrella of the Nigeria Intervention Movement also
described peaceful protests as a constitutional right of all citizens.
The group said this in a statement by
its National Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Obe. It said it was illegal
to criminalise or victimise any citizen for openly opposing the Federal
Government’s policies
We arrested Sowore for threatening public safety – DSS
But the DSS confirmed the arrest and detention of Sowore.
The spokesman for the DSS, Dr Peter
Afunnaya, confirmed this development to journalists, in Abuja, at the
DSS Headquarters, in Abuja, on Sunday.
He said, “Whether Sowore is with the DSS or not? The answer is in the affirmative, he is with us.
“And why is he with us? He has crossed
the lines, he has threatened public safety. Sowore, as a matter of fact,
has threatened the peaceful coexistence, social harmony of Nigeria.
There is apprehension, there is anxiety, citizens and residents are
worried as to what will happen next.”.
We won’t participate in anti-FG protests –Northern group
But the Coalition of Northern Group distanced itself from the planned revolution march.
The CNG declared that those organising the protests were “couriers of
foreign destabilisation plot that are not in the interest of the
North.”
Addressing a press conference at the Arewa House in Kaduna on Sunday,
the CNG’s spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said the North would not
participate in the protest.
According to him, the group will not participate, support or encourage any actions that are potentially dangerous to the North.
He, therefore, called on all northerners to shun the protests and
resist any attempt to be dragged into participating in any way in a
movement that would turn out to the disadvantage of the region.
Soyinka, others are blackmailers, revolution won’t be tolerated – Presidency
But the Presidency has replied notable Nigerians opposing the action taken by the DSS in arresting Sowore.
It mentioned the name of Soyinka in particular as one of the critics,
saying that much as the administration had respect for him and others,
they appeared to be engaging in double-speaking and blackmailing the
government.
The Presidency, reacting through the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, noted that the same
Soyinka would criticise government for not taking actions against
lawlessness and turned around to attack it when it took actions.
“You mentioned the name of Prof Wole Soyinka. Some of these critics
of government are people whom we have great respect and admiration for.
When things are going wrongly with the law and order in the country,
they say the police are not doing their work. They raise their voices,
asking that ‘the culprits to be booked and expeditiously punished in the
most severe manner.’
“The police under a new leadership is now rising to the occasion,
saying ‘we cannot take any more atrocities against the law in our
country and they are saying don’t do anything.
“They are calling out President Buhari and comparing him to
autocratic leaders. This is an unpardonable blackmail that cannot stop
the police and other law enforcement agencies from doing their work,”
the Presidency responded.
It added that the administration respected the right of Nigerians to carry out peaceful protests, but not a call to “violence.”
The Presidency added, “A Nigerian is by right empowered to call for a
change of government using constitutional means; to protest peacefully
against government policies and decisions. But to call for the violent
overthrow of a democratically-elected government and President is worse,
and is not acceptable under any law in Nigeria. Violence will ever be
accepted again as a way to change governments in this country. Those
days are gone.
“Nigeria has a well-crafted constitution and elaborate laws governing
elections that guide an orderly succession in government. We have a
judicial system that actively serves as a watchdog of the people’s
rights.
“Yet, we are daily witnesses to obscene display of delight in the
killing of our soldiers and policemen, an open contempt for the
country’s laws and its people, accompanied by loud cheers from the
so-called New Media. Is this the way to grow a country?”
Reveal your identities, Buhari tells sponsors
Earlier, Buhari had said on Sunday that elections remained the best way to change a government.
He stated that he already demonstrated this by presenting himself for
a democratic election in February this year, where his party, the APC,
won both the Presidential and National Assembly polls.
In a statement by the Presidency on Sunday, Buhari challenged the
alleged sponsors of the ‘revolution’ to come out openly to be identified
by Nigerians so that they would know where they (sponsors) stood.
It added that much as the administration respected the right of
Nigerians to hold a peaceful protest, a call for a revolution was an
incitement to violence.
The statement, which was signed by Shehu on Buhari’s behalf, partly
read, “The President of Nigeria and his administration respect and
uphold the right of every Nigerian to peaceful protests and civil
campaign, whether to raise awareness on issues, and even oppose the
government. It is the inalienable right of all citizens of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria to do so.
“There is, however, a difference between a peaceful call to protest and an incitement for a revolution.
“The organisation championing this planned action is not fronted by
any serious public faces. We call on the sponsors and organisers to have
the decency to come forward and make their identity known, out of
respect to all Nigerians; so that Nigerians can be fully aware in whose
name this ‘revolution’ is being proposed and who the beneficiaries may
be.
“Less than six months ago, Nigeria held simultaneous presidential and
parliamentary elections. Both contests were won resoundingly by
President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress party.
“The campaign was observed, and results were confirmed by
international election monitoring groups and observers. The result is
even being contested by the losing presidential candidate and his party
in court.”
Arguing that elections were the best form of regime change, the
Presidency added, “The ballot box is the only constitutional means of
changing government and a president in Nigeria. The days of coups and
revolutions are over.
“Those making the ‘revolution’ call hide behind the veil of social
media modernity. But, without revealing the identity of their sponsors,
this shadowy campaign is no better, and no more democratic, than the
days of old.
“The President calls on all those who seek to use and hide behind
everyday citizens to attain power through undemocratic and violent
means, which has been alluded, to come out clearly and be identified.
“They should lead their march in person. Only then will they begin to
have the right to call themselves leaders before the people of
Nigeria.” - PUNCH
