The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has called on President Bola Tinubu’s government to halt the ongoing trial of peaceful #EndBadGovernance protesters, who demonstrated against poor governance and economic hardships across Nigeria from August 1–10, 2024.
The protests, which were triggered by rising discontent over the state of the nation, turned violent in some parts of the country, leading to incidents of looting and vandalism in several states. In response, the office of the Inspector General of Police arrested and arraigned ten protesters before a Federal High Court in Abuja. The protesters now face serious charges, including felony and treason, in violation of Section 96 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 97. They stand accused of conspiring to destabilize Nigeria, inciting mutiny, and attempting to levy war against the state.
However, CACOL’s chairman, Debo Adeniran, in a strongly-worded statement, condemned the charges as unjust and urged the government to discontinue the trial. “From all indications, we at CACOL believe that the arraignment is unnecessary. Those who committed murder, arson, or vandalism by destroying properties could be isolated and tried according to the law of the land,” Adeniran stated.
He further argued that the root cause of the protests lay in the government’s failure to address critical economic issues, which have left many Nigerians struggling. “If government policies did not elicit mass hunger, which later translated to mass anger, it is unlikely that anybody would look the government in the face and call a sitting government a bad government,” Adeniran said.
The CACOL chairman also pointed out that even those within the government could not deny that certain policies have exacerbated the suffering of the people. He argued that when citizens express their dissatisfaction with policies that negatively affect their lives, they should not be punished for it. “Even those in government cannot say that the policies that caused hunger are in sync with what the people would approve. So, if the people express their disapproval of such policies, they should not be blamed for it.”
CACOL also criticized the government for failing to prevent the violence that erupted during the protests. According to Adeniran, the protest organizers had given ample notice before the demonstrations began, allowing the government enough time to deploy security forces to maintain order. “That arson and vandalism were recorded during the protest can be attributed to negligence on the part of the government, who ought to have put the necessary security apparatus in place to prevent the wanton destruction of properties,” he stated.
In light of these circumstances, CACOL has called on President Tinubu to grant the protesters an immediate prerogative of mercy. Adeniran emphasized that the protesters had legitimate grievances and that punishing them for exercising their right to peaceful assembly would be a gross injustice. “The Federal Government must immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested during the protest for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, instead of resorting to putting them through trumped-up charges just to justify unlawfully detaining them and thereby subjecting them to unnecessary psychological torture,” Adeniran said.
He further highlighted that peaceful protests are a constitutional right and should not be criminalized. “To the best of our knowledge, peaceful protest is not and should not be linked with any crime against the state, especially treason,” he added.
