Prominent pro-democracy advocates, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria or HURIWA has condemned the Bola Tinubu-led federal government over claims ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi is behind the planned hardship protest billed for August.

He cautioned the presidency to stop forthwith attempts to criminalise peaceful protests, alleging that some members of the current administration are attempting to go hard on peaceful protesters by criminalising any protest, a situation the group said is undemocratic.

Advertisement

A statement on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said protests are civic actions are aimed at advocating for accountability, transparency and good governance.

THE WHISTLER reports that the Special Adviser to President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, had accused Peter Obi of being the brain behind the looming protest, warning of the consequences.

The Labour Party however denied the accusation with the media office to the ex-presidential candidate alleging that it was a pretext to arrest Obi by the government for his frequent criticisms.

The group described the allegation against Obi as unsubstantiated, affirming that “the statement by Bayo Onanuga amounted to a reckless, careless, ruthlessly lawless rumour mongering which is overheating the public space unduly.”

HURIWA has asked President Tinubu to call his media adviser to order and caution him to stop “behaving and speaking like a fascist because only in fascism or totalitarianism is peaceful assembly by the citizens to agitate for good governance is criminalised.”

Democracy, the group said, thrives on hearing the positions of all sides and that any democracy that does not allow peaceful protest is sick.

HURIWA has also condemned what it called “unconstitutional and illegal arrest and arbitrary detention of Mr.Junaidu ‘Abusalma’ Abdullahi, a Kano-based TikToker, for mobilising mass protests over the country’s widespread hunger.”

The group said it completely backed Amnesty International in demanding the immediate release of Mr Abdullahi, accusing the Nigerian government of punishing him for exercising his fundamental rights.

“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release social media activist Junaidu Abdullahi (Abusalma), who was imprisoned in Kano for posting a viral TikTok video calling for a peaceful protest against widespread hunger across the country. #FreeAbusalma,” Amnesty International was quoted to have stated.

HURIWA said peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and legally recognised means of passing on a message from the citizens to the government on the way forward in the area of framing and implementation of economic, sociopolitical policies that would culminate in the enthronement of good governance and the strict adherence to the democratic and constitutional principles of transparency and accountability by government officials.

The rights group said it is “shameful that someone who claims to be speaking for a democratically constituted central government headed by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a tested civil society leader known to have organised, funded and participated in several pro-democracy protests in the past, is now pontificating like a tyrant in his opposition of civil protests.

“It is equally shameful to even recall that Mr. Bayo Onanuga is a trained journalist and yet he is the person who is deploying incendiary and unprintable terms in denunciation and repudiation of peaceful protests. Such a crying shame!

“It is a fact that the cost of living crisis has become highly combustible and most Nigerians are approaching the points of death,” the group ssid in the statement on Sunday.

“Why is this government driving people to their early grave with poor economic policies but yet doesn’t want the dying people to protest? This is wickedness at an unprecedented rate. This is absolutely reprehensible and despicable,” the group said.

HURIWA warned that if the government does not want people to protest peacefully then it is “directly telling the hungry and dying population to do their worst which might result in a very unpredictable and unpleasant turn of events.

“The government should chase after the black goat now that it is still daytime,” the group advised.