ON THE POLICE STOPPING BBOG FROM CONDUCTING ITS UNITY FOUNTAIN MARCH

Yesterday, members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) who had converged at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, for their usual protest march to the presidential villa were dislodged by the Nigerian Police Force.
The reason cited was “These indiscriminate actions, which are carried out in disorderly and sometimes riotous manner, create unwarranted tension and apprehension among law abiding citizens and in the process obstruct legitimate business activities."

Obviously the excuse is not tenable. The BBOG has not really caused trouble, expect perhaps for the government. BBOG has been known to conduct its sitting at that fountain since 2014 when the Chibok girls were kidnapped by the Boko Haram militants in a largely peaceful manner. Their protest marches to the Presidential villa have also been peaceful. Even when they were prevented from entering the villa, they conducted themselves peacefully outside. They are also unarmed. So how can they be riotous or create apprehension among law abiding citizens?
The government is clearly tired of them and has devised a means of stopping them. They (government) have gone beyond preventing BBOG from entering the Villa to stopping them from even gathering to protest at all. This is an infringement of their fundamental right to freedom of movement as guaranteed under Section 41 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (CFRN 1999). It is reminiscent of the ban on BBOG protests by the former Commissioner of Police for the FCT, Joseph Mbu which was highly criticized by the then opposition party, APC (now the ruling party) which was nullified by the court.
Inasmuch as the government may be doing its best to rescue the Chibok girls, it must tolerate criticism for not being able to rescue them yet. When those in power were in the opposition, they criticized former President Jonathan for the same thing. They even used the Chibok girls issue as part of their campaign, with President Buhari unequivocally promising to rescue them if elected. Stopping the BBOG protest is only further painting the country Nigeria as a place of repression. The world is watching. Just recently, a US congressman accused the government of flagrantly abusing fundamental rights. Acts like this will justify that claim. If the directive is not from the government, then it should call the police force to order because it (the government) will still be held vicariously liable for acts of the police.
I am not writing this in sympathy with BBOG. Neither is it the case that I despise the government. I am writing this from an unbiased point of view.