Hardship: Atiku, UN disagree over protest

• Ironic those stifling rights to protest in 2024 were leading protesters in 2012 Atiku
• Planned protests against hardship likely to be hijacked, UN warns

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the United Nations, UN, disagreed over the planned protest against the economic hardship in the country.

While the former vice president asked the Federal Government to allow Nigerians to exercise their constitutional rights to organise a peaceful protest, the UN United Nations Department of Safety and Security warned that the planned protests might be hijacked by groups with ulterior motives.

In a post on his X, Atiku said it was ironic that those stifling rights of Nigerians to protest in 2024 were leading protesters in 2012.

He slammed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for attempting to suppress the protesters, describing it as an exercise in futility.

The former vice-president said the governments incompetence has caused widespread suffering, affecting citizens, including supporters of the ruling party and those of the president.

He added that any attempt to suppress the rights of Nigerians to protest was not only unconstitutional but a direct affront on democracy.

Atiku wrote: For the avoidance of doubt, the rights of citizens to protest are enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and affirmed by our courts. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) unequivocally guarantees the right to peaceful assembly and association.

“Chasing shadows and contriving purported persons behind the planned protests is an exercise in futility when it is obvious that Nigerians, including supporters of Tinubu and the ruling APC, are caught up in the hunger, anger, and hopelessness brought about by the incompetence and cluelessness of this government.

“It is deeply ironic that those who now seek to stifle these rights were themselves leading protests in 2012. A responsible government must ensure a safe and secure environment for citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights to peaceful protest.

“Any attempt to suppress these rights is not only unconstitutional but a direct affront to our democracy.

On July 20, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, alleged that supporters of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, were behind the proposed nationwide protest.

The presidential aide alleged that the organisers were the same individuals who hijacked the #EndSARS protest of 2020. He said those instigating the protest are calling for a civilian coup.

Planned protests against economic hardship in Nigeria likely to be hijacked, UN warns

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) department of safety and security has warned that the planned protests in Nigeria might be hijacked by groups with ulterior motives.

In a threat and risk assessment finding dated July 19, the UN expressed concerns about the possibility of violence, citing past instances where similar protests in Nigeria escalated.

The threat and risk assessment read: Recall that in the February 13-16, 2023 interval, tensions generated by the paucity of new naira currency (financial crisis) reached high levels among the civilian population, which materialized in violent protests in the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria, in the states of Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Imo, Kwara, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, and Rivers.

During the civil unrest in the different states, several bank branches and ATM points were vandalized, and major roads were blocked.

As the turnout for the 10 days of rage protest is expected to be high, large-scale disruptions to normal economic and social activities cannot be discounted.

The threat assessment also showed that confrontations between groups supporting the government and those disagreeing with its policies could not be ruled out from the end of July towards August 10-15.