'Take it Back' Protest: Police, Protesters Head for showdown in Lagos, Abuja, Other Cities

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By Reporter

Nigeria may likely witness a confrontation with the police as organisers of ‘Take it Back’ protest have insisted on going ahead of their planned protest on a day set aside for as ‘National Police Day’.

The organisers have identified the concentration points for their protests in Lagos, Abuja and some other capital cities, such as Ibadan and Port Harcourt.

Protesters are expected to converge under the bridge in Ikeja, Lagos, the frontage of the National Assembly complex in Abuja, Isaac Boro Park in Port Harcourt and Iwo Road in Ibadan.

Victor Lijofi, one of the coordinators of Take-it -Back Movement in Osun State, said the protest against bad governance and suppression of free speech would hold in the state.

Lijofi rejected the police advice to shelve the demonstration, saying the protest was not about the security organisation.

“It is about the Nigerians that employ the police. So, the protest will go ahead in Osun, and we are inviting the police to play their roles of providing security for lives and properties,” Lijofi said.

This latest civil disobedience comes nine months after the #EndBadGovernance protests, which were held last August to protest the high costs of living in the country.

The police had already warned that it would not take kindly to a protest it described as “potential unrest or confrontation.”

It described the action as “subversive elements” acting on the pretence of economic hardship.

The Take it Back Movement group said the protest is against cyberbullyThe group said its members would converge under the bridge in Ikeja, Lagos, the frontage of the National Assembly complex in Abuja, Isaac Boro Park in Port Harcourt and Iwo Road in Ibadan.

Despite the caution by the protest, that it fell on National Police Day, a lead organiser, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, a political activist and ex presidential candidate, has insisted that the protest would go on as planned.

Police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi said: “The Nigeria Police Force acknowledges the constitutional right of citizens to peaceful protest.

“However, given the significance of April 7 as National Police Day, we urge the organisers to reconsider the timing of their planned demonstration.

The global advocate for Human Rights—Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian authorities to safeguard freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The planned demonstrations are in response to what protesters had described as an “escalating crackdown on dissent, particularly through the enforcement of the Cybercrimes Act.”

In a statement, Isa Sanusi, Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, urged the Nigerian government to ensure that security agencies respect and facilitate the right to peaceful protest, as guaranteed by both Nigeria’s constitution and international human rights treaties.

He said, “The Nigerian authorities must ensure that security agencies respect and facilitate the right to peaceful protest, as guaranteed by both the country’s own constitution and human rights treaties including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.

“Government officials must also refrain from issuing rhetoric aimed at demonising protesters and stifling peaceful dissent.”

Sanusi warned against attempts to suppress protests, emphasising that any effort to restrict peaceful assembly is illegal and signals an intolerance for dissent.

“Authorities must not use the proposed nationwide protests as a ploy to crack down on human rights including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Sanusi said.

“People must be allowed to freely exercise their right to peaceful protest. Any act capable of undermining freedom of assembly is illegal and portrays unacceptable intolerance of peaceful dissent.”‘