Over 40 protesters were arrested but later let off the hook in Abuja today as there was no judge to try them immediately.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) released the protesters who were arrested by the joint security personnel at Unity Fountain.
However, the FCT authority insisted that the protesters who were arrested at the Unity Fountain venue of the #Revolution Now protest were arrested for not complying with COVID-19 protocols and not for protesting.
They were brought before FCT Mobile Court for immediate prosecution but Magistrate Idayat Akanni, who was to preside over the case had several other cases in other court and couldn’t sit.
Speaking on behalf of the FCT Ministerial Task Team on COVID-19, Comrade Ikharo Attah said they can protest and still be alive and those enforcing will do same and be alive.
Attah advised them to always conform to all COVID-19 protocols to avoid the spread of Coronavirus.
He said that the protesters violated the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 guidelines of social and physical distancing and most of them were seen without face masks.
According to him: “About 40 of them have all been released and been tasked to always conform with COVID-19 whenever they are out to protest. Saying, you have the right to association, right to protest, a right to freedom of speech and expression but as you do all of this you must always conform to COVID-19 health protocols.
“The enforcement team went out in our normal routine operation and this time around, we made some arrests of some persons who came to protest and it is very clear that this is a democratic nation and everyone has the right to protest, to voice out but this must be done within the rules that governs the country and one of such rules is to obey the issues of COVID-19, so they were brought to the Mobil court in line with COVID-19 violations.
“When there is protest, social distancing is very difficult to observe, so when they came to the court, the magistrate had several other cases in other courts and couldn’t sit. And in our own wisdom, as person’s with listening hears, we talked to them, and it was agreed by all parties that they should go and observed all the laid down COVID-19 protocols before they will be released and they agreed to that do that.”
Earlier, the General Secretary, United Action for Democracy and a leading member of Take It Back Movement, Comrade Kunle Ajayi said they came out to protest for free functional and standard education and health before they were chased out , beating and brought before the court.
His words: “We are here to lead the revolution and protest for free functional and standard education at all levels, free functional and advanced healthcare, a very good example is under this COVID-19 pandemic that we are in. Hospitals are not working; Doctors are on strike, a lot of things are wrong with the country. We decided to mobilize community by community, street by street for people to come out and tell the government that enough is enough. That Nigerians want better education, better healthcare and social welfare and topmost of it all is the issue of security. You cannot continue to do as if the country is a grave yard.
“As it is today in most part of this country, everybody is living without security. And that is why we Wondered, why we legally and constitutionally came to protest at the specific place that is assigned for protest in FCT, which is the Unity Fountain. We are in the place, with face mark and we observed social distancing and we came out to protest peacefully but we were chased out of the place not only are we chased out, we were beating out.”
Meanwhile, security operatives have taken over the Unity Fountain to forestall any breakdown of law and order in the nation’s capital.
