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African Human Rights Law Journal

On-line version ISSN 1996-2096
Print version ISSN 1609-073X

Afr. hum. rights law j. vol.10 n.2 Pretoria  2010

 

ARTICLES

 

The right to demonstrate in a democracy: An evaluation of public order policing in Nigeria

 

 

Isaac Terwase Sampson

Research Fellow/Legal Officer, National Defence College, Abuja, Nigeria

 

 


SUMMARY

Demonstrations or civil protests personify the popular right to freedom of expression as well as the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, all guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, regional instruments on human rights as well as the constitutions of many states. It is widely accepted that the expression of dissent through demonstrations or public processions is an acceptable democratic practice; provided that it is exercised in accordance with the law. In Nigeria, however, the predominance of military regimes in the country's political history has produced a culture of intolerance to any exertion of this democratic right. The country's return to civil rule in 1999, however, witnessed a resurgence of civil protests which were expectedly met with state repression. This article examines the legality of the right to demonstrations and civil protests in Nigeria, the nature of the police's response to the exercise of this right as well as the factors that underpin the nature of state response. It argues that the right of demonstrations and civil protests is a genuine democratic right guaranteed under international law as well as Nigeria's municipal law. It is further contended that derogations or restrictions to the exercise of this right must be in tandem with fundamental rights and freedoms which allow democracy to run its course while enforcing law and order and protecting the rights of others. The article concludes by proffering recommendations for the effective and harmonious policing of demonstrations in a democratic Nigeria.


 

 

“Full text available only in PDF format”

 

 

* LLB LLM (Jos, Nigeria); isaacteewa@yahoo.com
1 This paper adopts De Lint's definition of public order policing as 'the use of police authority and capacity to establish a legitimate equilibrium between governmental and societal collective and individual rights and interests in a mass demonstration of grievance'. See W de Lint 'Public order policing: A tough act to follow?' (2005) 33 International journal of the Sociology of Law 179.
2 For a survey of literature on the universality of challenges associated with public order policing, see among others P Waddington Liberty and order: Policing public order (1994); M King & N Brearley Public order policing: Contemporary perspectives on strategy and tactics (1996); M King 'Policing and public order issues in Canada: Trends for change' (1997) 8 Policing and Society 47-76; D della Porta & H Reiter (eds) Policing protest: The control of mass demonstrations in Western democracies (1998) and M Button et al 'New challenges in public order policing: The professionalisation of environmental protest and the emergence of the militant environmental activist' (2002) 30 International journal of the Sociology of Law 17-32.
3 P Lewis 'Ian Tomlinson's death: Guardian video reveals police attack on man who died at G20 protest' (2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/07/ian-tom-linson-g20-death-video (accessed 13 October 2009).         [ Links ]
4 P Garganas 'Greek mass movement rises up against the state: Athens was rocked by mass protests on Sunday against the killing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos' Socialist Worker Online 9 December 2008 http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=16684 (accessed 13 October 2009).         [ Links ]
5 'Russian riot police clamp down on protesters' http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108528&sectionid=351020602 (accessed 13 October 2009).
6 'Iran clamps down on protests' CBS News Online (2009) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/14/world/main5087285.shtml (accessed 13 October 2009).
7 De Lint (n 1 above) 189.
8 IT Sampson 'The paradox of resource wealth and human insecurity: Reflections on the Niger-Delta area of Nigeria' (2008) 38 Africa Insight 64.
9 As above.
10 E Osita & J Hettmann Security sector governance in West Africa: Case study of Benin, Cóte d'lvoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal (2005) 2.         [ Links ]
11 S Tarry 'Widening and deepening: An analysis of security definitions in the 1990s' http://www.stratnet.ucalgary.ca/journal/article3.htm (accessed 13 February 2009).         [ Links ]
12 W Lipman US foreign policy: Shield of the republic (1943) 123.         [ Links ]
13 B Burzon et al Security: A new framework for analysis (1998) 21.         [ Links ]
14 A Wolfers Discord and collaboration: Essays on international politics (1962) 150.
15 M Sani (ed) Civilian and security agencies relationship: Role of the police in building an equitable and democratic society (2006) 21-22         [ Links ]
16 As above.
17 United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report (1994) 22-23.
18 FC Onuoha 'Is this yet another false start? The West African gas pipeline project and the host communities in the Niger Delta region' (2008) 7 Human Security journal 92.
19 D Hubert 'Human security: Safety for people in a changing world' in RA Akindele & A Bassey (eds) Beyond conflict resolution: Managing African security in the 21st century         [ Links ]
20 As above.
21 Sampson (n 8 above) 66.
22 C Thomas 'Introduction' in C Thomas & P Wilkin (eds) Globalisation, human security and the African experience (1999) 5.         [ Links ]
23 Sampson (n 8 above).
24 J-L Roy 'Bridging human rights and security' http://www.ichrdd.ca/site/_PDF/publi-cations/intHRadvocacy/bridgingrightsandsecurity.pdf (accessed 12 October 2009).         [ Links ]
25 EEO Alemika & IC Chukwuma 'Analysis of police and policing in Nigeria. A desk study on the role of policing as a barrier to change or driver of change in Nigeria' prepared for the Department for International Development http://www.cleen.org/policing.%20driver%20of%20change.pdf (accessed 14 October 2009).
26 As above.
27 As above.
28 As above.
29 As above.
30 Institute for the Study of Labour and Economic Crises (1982) in Alemika & Chukwuma (n 25 above) 5.
31 Alemika & Chukwuma (n 25 above) 4 5.
32 N Suleiman 'The police and civil society in Nigeria' in MM Gidado et al (eds) Nigeria beyond 1999: Stabilising the polity through constitutional re-engineering (2004) 255.         [ Links ]
33
De Lint (n 1 above) 184.
34 On this perspective, see I Loader & N Walker 'Policing as a public good: Reconstituting the connections between policing and the state' (2001) 5 Theoretical Criminology 9-25.
35 Sec 14 Nigerian Constitution 1999.
36 Sec 14(3) Nigerian Constitution.
37 See sec 6(6)(c ) of the Nigerian Constitution which ousts the jurisdiction of the Nigerian courts from enquiring into any matter arising from the provision of these provisions. See also A Nwafor 'Enforcing fundamental rights in Nigerian courts. Processes and challenges' 4 African journal of Legal Studies http://www.africalawin-stitute.org/ajls/vol3/no1/Nwafor.pdf (accessed 13 September 2010) 4-5.
38 See Okojie & Others v A-G Lagos State (1981) NCLR 218.
39 See among others DM Jemibewon The military, law and society: Reflections of a general (1998) 109; I Trispiotis 'Socio-economic rights: Legally enforceable or just aspirational?' Opticon1826 Issue 8 (2010) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/opticon1826/currentissue/articles/Article_Laws_Ilias_Social_equality_Publish_pdf (accessed 17 September 2010); JN Aduba et al http://dspace.unijos.edu.ng/bitstream/10485/180/V15%20THE%20DYNAMICS%20OF%20SOCIAL %20AND% 20ECONOMIC%20RIGHTS.pdf (accessed on 17 September 2010).
40 EE Alemika 'Colonialism, state and policing in Nigeria' (1993) 20 Crime, Law and Social Change 189-219.
41 C Ake Democracy and development in Africa (2001).         [ Links ]
42 Alemika & Chukwuma (n 25 above) 8.
43 TN Tamuno The police in modern Nigeria: 1861-1965 (1970) ch 9.         [ Links ]
44 OF Onoge 'Social conflict and crime control in colonial Nigeria' in TN Tamuno et al (eds) Policing Nigeria (1993).         [ Links ]
45 Tamuno (n 43 above) 90.
46 Alemika & Chukwuma (n 25 above) 9.
47 O Ohonbamu 'The dilemma of police organisation under a federal system: The Nigerian example' (1972) 6 The Nigerian Law journal 73-87.         [ Links ]
48 PT Ahire 'Native authority police in Northern Nigeria: End of an era' in Tamuno et al (n 44 above) 257.         [ Links ]
49 Alemika & Chukwuma (n 25 above) 13.
50 SG Ehindero The Nigerian police and human rights (1988) 140.         [ Links ]
51 EEO Alemika & IC Chukwuma (eds) 'Civilian oversight and accountability of police in Nigeria' http://www.cleen.org/POLICE%20ACCOUNTABILITY%20BOOK1.pdf (accessed 9 September 2010)
52 As above.
53 Factsheet on the Ogoni Struggle http://www.ratical.org/corporations/OgoniFactS.html (accessed 12 October 2009).
54 FO Adeola 'Environmental injustice and human rights abuse: The states, MNCs, and repression of minority groups in the world system' (2000) 8 Human Ecology Review 52.
55 Guardian 2 October 2005 1 4.
56 Arts 19 & 20 Universal Declaration; arts 9, 10 & 11 African Charter.
57 (2000) 6 NWLR (Pt 660) 228.
58 Inspector-General of Police v All Nigeria Peoples Party & Others (2007) 18 NWLR 469 500 paras B-C.
59 n 58 above, 471 501 paras G-H.
60 My emphasis.
61 See similar derogations under art 29 of the Universal Declaration and art 11 of the African Charter.
62 n 58 above, 472.
63 Roy (n 24 above) 18.
64 (2006) All FWLR 177.
65 As above.
66 Per Abdulahi JCA in Chukwuma (n 64 above) 186 paras A-C.
67 Chukwuma (n 64 above) 189 paras A-B.
68 (2007) 18 NWLR (Pt 1066).
69 Per Adekeye JCA 499-500 paras F-G (my emphasis).
70 499 paras B-C.
71 n 64 above.
72 n 68 above.
73 Chukwuma (n 64 above) 188 paras A-F.
74 Chukwuma (n 64 above).
75 (2000) 9 NWLR (Pt 672) 631 644.
76 See Ake (n 41 above) 1-12 where this claim finds support.
77 HT Soweto 'Labour and civil society coalition rally in Ibadan: Call for change gain an echo among working class masses and youths' http://www.socialistnigeria.org/page.php?article=1512 (accessed 14 September 2010).
78 As above.
79 IGP vANPP (n 68 above) per Muhammad JCA 501 paras G-H.
80 See among others M Maguire & T John 'Intelligence, surveillance, and informants: Integrated approaches' Police Research Group Crime and Prevention Series, Paper 64, Home Office, London; Button et al (n 2 above) 29; De Lint (n 1 above) 184.
81 Button et al (n 2 above).
82 As above.
83 B Hoogenbloom 'Grey policing: A theoretical framework' (1991) 2 Policing and Society 17-30. Hoogenbloom describes 'grey policing' as those forms of informal cooperation between the state police, regulatory agencies and the private sector that include practices such as the use of each other's powers, exchange of information and sharing of technological gadgets.

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