Senior lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Inspector-General of Police to arrest and prosecute police personnel who allegedly violently disrupted a peaceful rally by pensioners at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State.
Falana, in a statement titled, “IGP MUST ARREST AND PROSECUTE THE POLICE PERSONNEL WHO VIOLENTLY DISRUPTED THE PEACEFUL RALLY OF PENSIONERS,” said the disruption violated the constitutional rights of the protesters to assemble and protest against government policies.
Citing the Court of Appeal judgment in Inspector General of Police v All Nigerian People Party (2008) 12 WRN 65, Falana said the court affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court which annulled police permits for rallies in Nigeria.
According to him, Adekeye JCA, as she then was, held that: “A rally or placard carrying demonstration has become a form of expression of views on current issues affecting government and the governed in a sovereign state. It is a tread recognized and deeply entrenched in the system of governance in civilized countries – it will not only be primitive but also retrogressive if Nigeria continues to require a pass to hold a rally. We must borrow a leaf from those who have trekked the rugged path of democracy and are now reaping the dividend of their experience.”
Falana further said that based on the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the constitutional right of aggrieved Nigerians to protest against policies of government, section (4) of the Nigeria Police Force Establishment Act 2020 imposed a duty on the police officer in charge of the area where a rally, meeting or procession would take place to mobilize personnel to provide security cover for the gathering.
He described the violent disruption of the pensioners’ rally at Alausa as “a complete violation of the rights of the protesters to assemble and protest against the failure of the Lagos State Government to pay their pension as and when due.”
He added that the disruption was also “a provocative breach of section 83(4) of the Nigeria Police Force Establishment Act 2020.”
Falana called on the Inspector-General of Police to arrest and prosecute the police officers involved in the disruption.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police to arrest and prosecute the police officers who violently disrupted the peaceful rally and thereby inflicting intentional physical bodily injury on the protesters without any legal justification whatsoever,” he said.