Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on Tuesday, condemned the Federal Government’s decision to charge protesters with terrorism and treason, stating that “the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens to assemble and protest against unpopular policies of governments are guaranteed by Sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution.”
This was contained in a press release titled, “Illegality of charging protesters with terrorism and treason.”
Falana’s statement came after President Bola Tinubu ordered the termination of treason charges against 119 protesters involved in the August 1-8, 2024 protests against bad governance and hardship.
“The Federal Government and several state governments embarked on a campaign of calumny against the organisers of the August 2024 protests,” Falana said. “When the vicious campaign did not achieve its dubious objective, the Federal Government threatened to deal ruthlessly with the organisers of the protest.”
Falana emphasized that the police, in breach of the right to protest, killed at least 22 protesters and that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi SAN, erred in claiming that minors were properly charged before the Federal High Court.
“The Federal High Court does not have exclusive jurisdiction to try treason and related offences,” Falana argued. “Even if there was a reasonable suspicion that the minors committed treason, they ought to have been arraigned in a Family Court pursuant to section 149 of the Child’s Rights Act.”
Falana concluded that charging protesters with terrorism, treason, and related offences will not intimidate Nigerians, urging the government to provide adequate security for protesters instead.
“From the foregoing, it is crystal clear that the Federal Government set out to use the case of the 130 protesters to discourage Nigerian people from protesting against the harsh living conditions,” Falana said. “Since the plan has since boomeranged, the Federal Government should be advised to appreciate that charging protesters with terrorism, treason, treasonable felony, and allied offences will not cow Nigerians to submission.”
