The police in Nasarawa State, north-central Nigeria, recently announced a ban on all forms of protest across the state.
Development Diaries reports that the spokesperson for the police in the state, DSP Ramhan Nansel, said the move was to forestall a breakdown of law and order.
Some women in the state had on 24 March, 2023, stripped themselves completely naked to protest against the outcome of the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections in the state.
The women, angered by the outcome of the elections, said they did not vote for Governor Abdullahi Sule, who was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) amid controversies.
It is the right of every citizen in a democratic society to protest, as protests play an important part in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural life of all societies.
Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution provides that every person is entitled to peaceful assembly.
Also, Article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Nigeria is a party, having ratified it on 22 June, 1983, provides for the Right to Freedom of Assembly.
Development Diaries believes that the police ban on protests in Nasarawa is illegal and a violation of the fundamental human right to peaceful assembly and association.
We, therefore, call on the Nasarawa State government and the state’s police command to retract this ban and allow people the freedom to express their rights, provided the protests are peaceful.
