By Shakirudeen Bankole
At exactly 12:32pm, Comrade Sanyaolu Juwon, the Coordinator of the Nationwide One-Day Protest against the Proposed Cybercrime Law by the National Assembly and the State of Emergency Rule in Rivers State, had declared that the ongoing protest has now been brought to an end.
The disclosure was revealed during a Press Conference held at the ground of the protest at the entry point to the State Assembly Complex in Alausa.
Juwon, who was flanked by fellow protesters, said it is very disheartening that the Nigerian Police are still unable to perform their constitutional responsibility dutifully whenever a public protest arises.
He said their statutory role, according to the Constitution, is to guarantee the safety of lives of protesters and the ordinary citizens.
“As we have seen here today, the conduct of the police have shown that there is still the need for more public sensitisation on the constitutionality of public protest in this country.
“As protesters, we understand the law and we know the conduct that is deemed in violation of the law. As you all can see here today, we are not armed, neither are we constituting any threat to public peace and order. What we are simply doing is to exercise our right to peaceful protest, as guaranteed by the constitution.
“But the police have stopped us from seeing our elected officials whom we wanted to deliver our message to for onward delivery to Mr President to rescind his decision on the state of emergency Rivers State. The constitution does not gives Mr President the power to do so..this is a democracy and the people hV the right to voice their concerns, publicly,” he said.
As a standard operational procedure, the police official position is to be issued by the Police Public Relations Office, which was not available as at the time of this report.
But Kiin Media’s observation revealed that the heavy presence of Armed Police did not escalate tension at the protest ground this time around, contrary to patterns observed from previous protests.
In previous protests like the #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance, the heavy presence of Armed Police officers, had escalated, instead of de-escalating tension.
At the protest ground this afternoon, the Police Personnel were later joined by the Army, Special Police Forces , including those from its Tactical Unit, whose casual dressing and heavily loaded arms and ammunition, projected them like the elite members of the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).
There were also members of the Nigerian Civil Defense Corps, Neighborhood Watch, and officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASMA). LASMA was on hand to ease out the building traffic gridlock on the corridor.
In his submission, Juwon, said his colleagues are “passing vote of no confidence on Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his style of leadership and his insensitivity to the plights of Nigerians.
” Just last year, 40 peaceful protesters lost their lives under the leadership of President Tinubu. These are armless, harmless and peaceful protesters,, whose lives were cut short because of standing up for what is right, ….”he lamented.
Juwon said his group are passing a Vote of iNo Confidence on President Tinubu.
“Protesters have been subjected to arbitrary arrest, torture and persecution. And the new Cybercrime Act is to further silence and criminalize free speech. And amidst this authoritarianism, one would be shocked to realize that the country is under a democratic government.
“We cant continue like this, enough is enough,” he added.
