The police and peaceful assemblies

The conduct of the police there has shown that the NPF is yet to come to terms with the freedoms and liberties that citizens should enjoy under a democratic government. Since the crisis in Rivers State started with a siege on the State House of Assembly by a group of five of its members, who […]

The conduct of the police there has shown that the NPF is yet to come to terms with the freedoms and liberties that citizens should enjoy under a democratic government. Since the crisis in Rivers State started with a siege on the State House of Assembly by a group of five of its members, who appear to have the support of the leadership of the state police command, the state governor, who by law should be the chief security officer of the state, has been given little room to exercise his executive functions. Majority of the members of the State House of Assembly known to be loyal to him have had teargas thrown at them when they assemble. Only recently, there were several casualties during the violent dispersal by the police of what every other source said was a peaceful rally held by the governor’s party. This conduct has cast the police in bad light; inaction in bringing the perpetrators to book lends credence to suspicion that the slide towards anarchy is being orchestrated by persons close to the Presidency.
President Goodluck Jonathan and Rotimi Amaechi, who do not see eye-to-eye on many political issues, have allowed the situation to degenerate to dangerous levels. The recent shooting by the police of Senator during a rally in Port Harcourt portends serious trouble if the top officers there are not called to order.
The police also appear to feign ignorance of the fact the courts have ruled that a permit is not required from them before people can peacefully gather, even if his is a political one.  The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, betrayed such ignorance when he ordered his personnel to invade a rally ground and distrupt a meetings of politicians. His ignorance should be no excuse for his unconstitutional conduct. In June 2005, a Federal High Court declared that that the Public Order Act which made it mandatory for a police permit to be applied for before a public rally can take place was unconstitutional, anachronistic, and an affront to the dignity of Nigerians. This judgment was upheld by the Court of Appeal.  
  Freedom of association is one of the pillars of democracy. Globally, public rallies and marches are an integral part of the democratic culture, and it is the duty of law enforcement agents is to provide protection for those exercising this right, and arrest those who breach the law. The police continue to act illegally with respect to public rallies and their pre-occupation with disrupting opposition activities rather than fighting serious crimes does the police image no good. On a daily basis for instance, many robberies, some of them fatal, take place on the Port Harcourt – Aba Road. The same police who claim they do not have the manpower or logistics to deal with the situation apparently have plenty of these available to disrupt peaceful rallies.
Mbu’s antecedent as Commissioner of Police of Oyo command where he led a team of policemen to raid the palace of the Ashipa of Oyo provides a disturbing parallel.  His action led to a N1 billion lawsuit against the police and others. The obstinate refusal by his superiors to redeploy Mbu in line with requests from the Rivers State government and several resolutions to that effect by the National Assembly is worrisome because it adds to the climate of impunity that has evolved to unacceptable levels under his command.  It is unheard of that a Commissioner of Police, who is not elected, would compete for political space with the elected governor of the state.  President Jonathan must act now to bring Rivers State back from the brink of lawlessness. He must differentiate his position as PDP leader from his responsibilities as the president of the country.