The Federal Government’s clampdown on some perceived promoters of the recent EndSARS protest is not necessary. It is even not the best way to address the demands of the protesters and curb rising youth restiveness. It is also not tidy that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) placed restriction on the bank accounts of some of the EndSARS promoters and accused them of financing terrorism. However, 14 of the 20 alleged EndSARS promoters on Thursday asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside the order. While the matter lasts, we think that the action of the government is not proper.
Civil protest is a legitimate action in any civilised society. Attempts to suppress it usually boomerang. In any case, when did it become the job of the CBN to declare peaceful protesters terrorists and freeze their accounts? And when did it become illegal to donate to such a cause? There was a similar funding to provide, among others, gas masks against tear gas for protesters against police brutality in the United States. The protest was against the unjust killing of George Floyd in May this year by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis. The US did not haunt the financiers of the protest or tag them terrorists.
In a near reenactment of the French Revolution of 1789, young demonstrators in Paris, France, shouted ‘revolution’ and some other slogans denouncing the police, President Emmanuel Macron and his pension reforms in January this year. Nobody has frozen their bank accounts. We have had the Arab Spring in some North African and Middle East countries, the anti-racism protests in the US and the anti-apartheid protests in South Africa and many other examples with little or no clampdown on the protesters.
Incidentally, the issues the Nigerian youths canvassed are legitimate. They asked for a disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police, psychological evaluation and retraining of all the personnel and increase in the salary of policemen. They also demanded the release of all protesters, investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct, justice for all deceased victims of police brutality, appropriate compensation for their families and prosecution of the perpetrators of the atrocities.
Government accepted the five-point demands of the youths and pleaded for time to solve the problems. It disbanded SARS and replaced it with the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Adamu Mohammed, ordered all the SARS personnel to report to Abuja for debriefing as well as medical and psychological examination.
Many state governments also identified with the objectives of the protesters. They promised to compensate families of the victims of SARS brutality. They have also set up judicial panels of inquiry to investigate the atrocities of the defunct outfit as directed by the National Economic Council (NEC). The panels are currently sitting and some of the revelations are mind-boggling.
Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari invited the youths to a dialogue with the Federal Government. He acknowledged that they had a right to protest and noted that the government will not lift a hand to stop or suppress them. The clampdown on the EndSARS campaigners contradicts the president’s position.
The development came on the heels of the northern governors’ stand that the EndSARS protest was a ploy to effect regime change outside the ballot box. That position has been faulted by many Nigerians. The protest was spontaneous and started first as a demonstration against police brutality, especially the atrocities committed by the now defunct SARS. As the protest progressed, the youths then added other demands which revolve around ensuring good governance. Unfortunately, some hoodlums hijacked the protest at a point and vandalised many public and private buildings and vehicles in some parts of the country.
What the government should have done is to fish out the criminal elements who hijacked the protest and deal with them according to the laws of the land. The clampdown on the peaceful campaigners blights government’s promise to address the grievances of the protesters. It is a violation of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Government should make deliberate efforts to include the youths in governance at the local, state and federal levels. We call on the National Assembly to make laws to ensure good governance as well as the welfare of all Nigerians.
The warning by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, that there will be fresh protest if youth unemployment is not addressed, must not be ignored. Let the government make adequate provision in the national budget to inclusively engage the youths. Government must strive to prevent another wave of protest by resolving the problems besetting the youths, such as unemployment, poor access to health and education.