₦airaland Forum

DOES the Bola Tinubu administration have a phobia of protests? The administration’s response to the 10-day August #EndBadGovernance protests and the developments trailing the demonstrations lend credence to the question. While half-heartedly conceding the constitutionality of protests, the government, through the security agencies, did its utmost to crush the demonstrations, or at the least take the sting off them.

In the Federal Capital Territory and many states, the government deployed the judiciary and police to stop the protesters. Tear gas, hot water cannons, and live ammunition were used against them. Amnesty International said 13 people were killed; other accounts said as many as 31 persons died, while many were arrested.

To cap it, 10 of the arrested protesters were charged with treason on September 2! The hearing on this begins on September 11.

So, is protest treasonable?

Treason is a weighty charge. It carries the death penalty. Colonialists and slave owners made a meal of it when they wanted to crush dissent or anything they deemed as such. The charge has, however, become old-fashioned and is rarely applied.

The government tried Joseph Tarka and Obafemi Awolowo for treason. The former was acquitted for lack of evidence, the latter jailed for 10 years, but those were in the heady days of politics of the ’60s. Student union leaders had been charged for treason for organising protests under the military.

Fifteen months into his tenure, Tinubu is cracking down on protesters and seems to be seeing treason everywhere. A Briton, Andrew Wynne, and two Nigerians are accused of plotting to topple his government. Labour leader, Joe Ajaero, who has led the NLC on half-hearted protests and strikes, was invited by the police twice for questioning over alleged criminal conspiracy, terrorism financing, and treason, among other charges.

Essentially, Tinubu is creating the impression of attempting to cow Nigerians and prevent them from expressing their discomforts caused by his policies, questionable priorities, and high cost of governance. He is drawing from the playbook of repressive regimes, a dangerous attack on democracy.

The same Tinubu who burnished his political CV with public protests is now leading an assault on protesters. So, when is protest lawful, constitutional, and healthy, and when is it treason?

By towing this path, the President could aggravate the boiling tensions. If he is hell-bent on suppressing protests, free speech, and dissent, he will drive those who disagree with him underground. And the peace and comfort he seeks for himself and his administration will elude him. He will find himself fighting terrorists and insurgents on the one hand and underground combatants on the other.

The August protests tagged ‘10 days of rage’ were, according to the organisers, against bad governance and sweeping hunger. The protests turned violent in a few places, culminating in the destruction of property and looting. In the North, Russian flags were held aloft on the streets. This is concerning.

Urging a foreign country to take over another country is unreasonable and unacceptable. No country should be invited to destabilise another under whatever guise or disguise. The best way to stop those acts is to probe them painstakingly and comprehensively.

The organisers of the August protests have served notice of another one tagged ‘Fearless in October.’ Rather than see it as an opportunity to take off from where they left off in August, security agents should dust up their manuals on how to manage public protests without spilling blood or breaking a limb like in other climes.

Better still, Tinubu should correct the errors that threw more Nigerians into multidimensional poverty, which led to the protests in the first place.


Punch Editorial Board

https://punchng.com/is-protest-treasonable/

Yes …

Only in Nigeria…

The same protest Tinubu and other Yoruba Muslims used against GEJ, today Ronu Muslims wants the good people of SS to support this failure

Yes it is, when

It's sponsored by foreign body- Ford Foundation sponsoring Sahara Reporters, Russian and Irsn in the North, British in the South and China in Abuja

It is destructive and against perceived enemy created as a result of lost of election

It aid the actiivity of terrorists like Boko, Iswap and Ipob/Esn

It force people not interested to join the protest and target those not participating for destruction.

No country will accept that- Russian, Britian, China and even US had one time or the other prosecuted and convicted protesters.

..Thief'nubu dont believe in Nigeria..not to mention one Nigeria..

..anything that is going to stop the emilokan status of Thief'nubu will be crushed by cocain induced insecurity agents..

..a thief who stole the mandate of Nigerians bribing judges, electoral commissioners, insecurity agents has no regard for due process or for what is right or wrong..

....He is punishing the masses because majority of the masses rejected a thief..

Protesting is not treason, but should NEVER be against a demigod like His Excellence, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR)

Protests should be against humans, not demigods.

Freetech:
Yes it is, when

It's sponsored by foreign body- Ford Foundation sponsoring Sahara Reporters, Russian and Irsn in the North, British in the South and China in Abuja

It is destructive and against perceived enemy created as a result of lost of election

It aid the actiivity of terrorists like Boko, Iswap and Ipob/Esn

It force people not interested to join the protest and target those not participating for destruction.

No country will accept that- Russian, Britian, China and even US had one time or the other prosecuted and convicted protesters.

And where did the constitution say all this?

Its really not the protest itsself that is treasinable.
The motive behind the protest was what made it treasonable.
Calling for the unconstitutional overthrow of a sitting president is a treasonable offence.
Flying another Nations flags and inviting them to come take over the government is a treasonable offence.
So both the actors and sponsors have actually commited crimes.

Nigerians really need education and yes even the graduates need serious education.

They dont even know that saying Tinubu is the president and potraying Obi as president is a crime. Its an attempt to run a parallel government

Exousiang01:
Its really not the protest itsself that is treasinable.
The motive behind the protest was what made it treasonable.
Calling for the unconstitutional overthrow of a sitting president is a treasonable offence.
Flying another Nations flags and inviting them to come take over the government is a treasonable offence.
So both the actors and sponsors have actually commited crimes.

Nigerians really need education and yes even the graduates need serious education.

They dont even know that saying Tinubu is the president and potraying Obi as president is a crime. Its an attempt to run a parallel government

Is there anywhere in your tortured constitution where it was said that if you dare to fly another nations flag anywhere in Nigeria, you should be arrested and charged for treason for doing that? Or are you just making that one up? I ask this because there are so many places in this country where i have seen the different flags of several foreign countries.

This includes churches, offices and homes. Does flying the Russian flag translate to treason? If having contacts with foreigners is treasonous, how about your president, who is at this moment hobnobbing with foreigners in an undefined visit? What are they always doing in Paris and London?

YES. AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED AGAINST IT BY SECURITY REPORT.

MadPolitician:
Is there anywhere in your tortured constitution where it was said that if you dare to fly another nations flag anywhere in Nigeria, you should be arrested and charged for treason for doing that? Or are you just making that one up? I ask this because there are so many places in this country where i have seen the different flags of several foreign countries.

This includes churches, offices and homes. Does flying the Russian flag translate to treason? If having contacts with foreigners is treasonous, how about your president, who is at this moment hobnobbing with foreigners in an undefined visit? What are they always doing in Paris and London?

Yes those flags in churches are and organisations are in recognition of presence and partnership.
So i can have a british,Canadian flag in my school if my school runs a Canadian curiculum or my school is a branch of a school in Canada or Britain or the school has a partnership.
So it is not just about the flying of the flag but the motive behind the flag.

I just explained that clearly in my first comment.
You are one of the reasons why we say Nigerians have degrees but no education

Better still, Tinubu should correct the errors that threw more Nigerians into multidimensional poverty, which led to the protests in the first place.

This is my highpoint of the editorial. An error they should humbly admit and ask for forgiveness from Nigerians. Then take steps to correct them. Anything less than that is absolute nonsense

Ask funsho Williams if campaigning for governor is a treasonable offence that deserves murder

The govt knew exactly what it's doing, making protest and criticism TREASONABLE, to scare citizens away from saying anything or doing anything to express their displeasure against the evil policies sown by the govt.

Destructive protests could be termed as treasonable offense