By Owei Lakemfa
The Holy Book told us that after the first successful genetic engineering which produced Eve, the First Couple committed a misdemeanour.
This made God to send them out of the Garden. But in doing so, He did not restrict their freedom of movement. He merely stopped them from re-entering the Garden which was a social or socialist state with fundamental rights to basic needs like food.
However, in our country, the Police, security services and many in government do not obey the injunction of free movement even when Section 40 (1) of the Constitution so states.
Rather, the police will let you know that even if such freedom exists in the books, to use an American trite, ‘there are consequences’. The police tells you that while it is ready to guarantee your freedom of movement, it cannot guarantee your freedom after movement.
In October 2020, youths were shot during the EndSARS protest after exercising their freedom of movement. So, the struggle between those who insist on our God-given right to freedom of movement, and those who insist on circumscribing it, continues. It is in this context a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos last week reiterated that Nigerians have the right to movement, association and assembly.
Justice Musa Kakaki ruled that Nigerians unjustly harassed, detained and their constitutional rights infringed upon while participating in the fourth EndSARS memorial rally held on October 20, 2024, are entitled to a N10 million compensation.
During the commemoration rally, the police fired live ammunition, beat up, tear-gassed and brutalised the protesters. Some of them were arrested and locked up for hours in a Black Maria van which the police used as a holding cell before their transfer to the notorious Panti Police Station in Lagos which is quite a distance from where they were illegally arrested. At the station, the protesters were held in detention without charge.
The police justified its criminal acts on the basis that the protest held outside a location it had permitted. But neither the police nor government has the power to restrict the constitutional and fundamental rights of Nigerians to movement, nor that to restrict them to any location or confinement.
The rally was in commemoration of youths shot in the 2020 EndSARS protest against police brutality. On that occasion, the security agencies, including the Nigerian Army, had opened fire on unarmed Nigerians exercising their right to movement, association and assembly.
I have no doubt that the Justice Kakaki judgement will not result in a change of heart either by the police or the Nigerian State. In fact, it will be a miracle if the police pays the compensation. Their hearts are that hardened.
But such illegal acts, as I indicated earlier, are not confined to the police, persons claiming to have been constitutionally elected, also exercise such illegal and unconstitutional powers.
A fortnight ago, the Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, ordered Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential candidate in the 2023 election, not to step his feet on the soil of the state without getting a clearance from him.
The “Executive” Governor in a mix of pidgin and English languages, said of Obi: “The man wey say e no get ‘shishi’, I am sending a direct message to him. He cannot come to Edo without telling me. A new Sheriff is in town. “He came the other day and donated N15m. By the time he left after donating the money, there was crisis and three people died in Benin. Tell Obi he should not come to Edo without telling me… In 2027, 2.5 million votes from Edo are guaranteed for President Bola Tinubu.” He queried where Obi, a multi- millionaire, got the N15 million he donated to the School of Nursing, Edo State.
A national firestorm followed Governor Okpebholo’s statements, but I am afraid too much grammar has been employed; so he may not comprehend what is being said. As a patriot, I will strive to break them down so His Excellency can understand and possibly correct himself in the interest of democracy.
My dear Governor Okpebholo, first, as the chief security officer of Edo State, you need to weigh your words before uttering them.
Secondly, given your powerful office, such advice as you have given Mr Obi, amounts to a threat, including to his life.
Thirdly, the said Obi under the Constitution has freedom of movement, including that to visit any part of the country. So, having sworn to uphold the Constitution, your attempt to restrict Obi’s movement amounts to a violation of your oath of office which can be an impeachable offence.
Also, your ignorance of the Constitution or the law is not an excuse, so, your continuous bragging on this matter can be used against you in any legal proceeding.
I also think the language of the motor park is unbefitting of your esteemed status. Your Excellency also wondered how a man who says he has no “shishi” could afford to donate N15 million to a school of nursing. There is nothing wrong in your observation, except that as a former law maker and, now Governor, I will expect you to report the matter to the anti-crime agencies if you suspect the donation to be proceeds from crime. But can I gently remind Your Excellency that charity has not found its way into the Nigerian Criminal Code.
As for the 2.5 million votes you announced are guaranteed for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, I will urge Your Excellency to tell Nigerians the basis of this guarantee. Is it that the election is already rigged in Edo State, or will be rigged to warrant the guarantee you have given?
I urge those struggling against the impunity and criminality of the state abridging the right to movement not to despair. They should know that we have scored significant victories against the forces and apostles of repression.
In the colonial times, Nigerians did not need to protest before being detained or sent to prison for movement on the streets. The poor that were caught walking in the streets of the affluent in Government Reservation Areas, GRAs, were arrested under a “Wandering” law. Those who could not give a satisfactory reason for walking on such streets were sent to prison by the courts.
Also, under the cumulative 29-military dictatorship, Nigerians exercising the their fundamental human rights to movement, association or assembly, were charged with treason.
We must not give up our constitutional and fundamental human rights nor allow them to be abridged in any form or manner. As our anti-colonial forebears used to say: the tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots.
