The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a network of 46 civil society organisations committed to promoting police accountability and respect for human rights in the country, has affirmed the constitutional right of protest of Nigerian citizens, and called on the Acting Inspector General of Police to
to ensure that the police comply with the law.
The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a network of 46 civil society organisations committed to promoting police accountability and respect for human rights in the country, has affirmed the constitutional right of protest of Nigerian citizens, and called on the Acting Inspector General of Police to
to ensure that the police comply with the law.
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In a statement in reaction to Saturday’s disruption of protesters who were marching peacefully in memory of matyrs of last month’s fuel price hike, NOPRin said the police in Lagos State must respect and protect the rights of citizens to embark on peaceful protests, which it described as “one of the hallmarks” of democracy.
In the statement, signed by Okechukwu Nwanguma, its Program Coordinator, NOPRIN noted the remarks of the Lagos State Police Command which said the demonstrators had failed to obtain a permit for their action.
“No doubt, citizens’ right to protest is constitutionally guaranteed,” the group said. “Citizens do not need police permit to exercise their fundamental rights.”
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In that regard, NOPRIN cited some authorities on the matter, including:
• the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Compliance Advisory of 3rd January 2012, in which it stated that the right to assemble freely and to protest or demonstrate peacefully is a human right recognized and guaranteed within Sections 39-40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and Articles 9-11 of the African charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is domestic law in Nigeria; and
• the case of All Nigeria Peoples Party v Inspector-General of Police (2008) 12 WRN 65, decided by the Court of Appeal on December 12, 2007, in which the court upheld that Nigerians have the
fundamental right to stage rallies and protests without any police permit.
NOPRIN said the Police ought to be aware that the Constitution is superior to the Police Act which was first enacted in 1943 as the Police Ordinance and last updated by military decree in 1967. “For the police to continue to rely on this antiquated legislation to insist that citizens must apply for and secure police permit to exercise their fundamental human rights shows that they are not only living in the past but are deliberately acting contrary to the fundamental law of the land and in contempt of the decisions of the Appeal Court cited above,” it said.
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