Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has criticized the Lagos state police command for seeking to stop a rally for good governance called by famous singer, Innocent (Tuface) Idibia.
Adegboruwa, however threatened that nothing, including the police, can stop the rally scheduled to commence on Monday.
According to the convener, the rally is meant to protest against the current economic hardship being faced by the masses.
Tuface had since last month began the campaign, urging Nigerians to keep a date with him as he took to Lagos streets to protest against the manner the government was handling the economy.
But in a statement on Thursday, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the police would not allow the rally to hold, because it could easily be hijacked by hoodlums.
“We know that 2face does not have the capacity to contain such a crowd and we will not fold our hands and watch while things go out of hand,” Owoseni said.
Adegboruwa, who had earlier said he would join the 2face rally, also said the police did not have any legal backing to stop the protest and urged the police CP to study his copy of the Nigerian constitution before coming out to make such a statement.
Adegboruwa said Owoseni’s statement was an attempt to intimidate Nigerians who wish to partake in the rally, adding that it could never deter “we, veterans, and indeed the deprived, oppressed and hungry people of Nigeria.”
“For the information of the police commissioner, Nigeria is a democratic country governed strictly in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
“Section 39 of the constitution grants freedom of expression, including the right to be heard and to disseminate information and ideas.
“Section 40 grants the right to associate and gather together. Section 38 grants the right to freedom of movement and peaceful assembly.
“I believe that Mr. Fatai Owoseni has a copy of the constitution, to guide his actions and utterances on this matter, instead of threatening innocent and law-abiding citizens, who are responsible for his salary.
“The issue of police permit for citizens to gather freely, expired with the coming into force of the 1999 Constitution and we cannot now go back to the military era of shutting up citizens from legitimate expressions,” the lawyer said.
He continued: “The good people of Nigeria, especially those who reside in Lagos, should join us en mass at Ikeja, for the rally on February 6, 2017.
“We cannot be intimidated in our own country, by the same people who are paid to protect us.
“…So, come rain or shine, we shall hold the rally on Monday, as scheduled, because it is illegal for the police to seek to ban a lawful assembly.”
