Police disrupts anti-corruption protest in Abuja

A protest organised by Stop Impunity Nigeria, SIN,
and Citizens Wealth Platform, CWP, in Abuja on
Thursday to raise awareness on the level of
mismanagement in the public service was
stopped by heavily armed Nigerian Police. The protesters, who had assembled at the
Millennium Park where the protest was to take off
from, were dispersed by some armed policemen
mobilized from the Force headquarters, who took
over the park. The Officers arrived at the park
around 9: 22.am in two vehicles, with registration numbers NPF 6666C and NPF 248. The Officers were seen shooting sporadically and
firing teargas to disperse the ever determined
protesters. Also, a bus belonging to the Abuja
Urban Mass Transportation Company, AUMTCO was
equally attacked by the officers. The bus was
hired to convey the protesters. To avoid further casualties, the protesters quickly
relocated to another venue close to the park, but
were again dispersed by the Officers. The officers were said to have been led by one
Bello Makwashi, an Assistant Commissioner of
Police. Speaking with journalists, the convener of the
protest, Eze Onyenkpere said that the action of the
Police was uncivil and crude as they do not have
the power to attack defenceless and unarmed
protesters “The police were supposed to escort us
to the place where we were going to submit our petition,” he said. He stated that the Public Order Act, which the
police usually refer to for disrupting protests, had
been upturned by the Supreme Court. He further
asserted that he will be suing the force for
dispersing non-violent protesters. He added, “For emphasis, that Act has been set
aside by the Federal High Court and supported by
the decision by the Court of Appeal and there is
no decision from any other superior Court that has
set aside this popular decision of the Court of
Appeal. “That there is no fundamental right to movement,
association, peaceful assembly until you get
police order – there is no such thing.” Speaking on why the protest became necessary,
he said that the welfare of Nigerians and
development of the country were never taken into
consideration by the National Assembly, the
Presidency and other arms of government, hence
the need to peacefully ask questions. “We recall with regret the perennial sum of N150
billion allocated to the National Assembly, NASS,
every year since 2010 and also projected 2016
under the Medium Term Expenditure Framework
2014-2016 (MTEF); the mind boggling provisions
for foreign and local travel, bloated security, entertainment and welfare; votes year after year
requests for vehicles and computers; and a
Presidency that is fed on more than N2 million a
day and enjoying a fleet of aircrafts but still wants
more. “We further recall with deeper regret the trillions
lost to oil subsidy thieves, which will not likely be
recovered, the 45, 000 ghost workers that earned
over N108 billion and vanished into thin air, and
some pension thieves that are still at large. Oil
thieves now have an official monthly allocation of about 400, 000 barrels of crude and the MTEF,
taking cognisance of this, has reduced the oil
production projection for 2014 in 2012.”