#EndSARS and fear of military intervention

Protests in the country against police brutality which started peacefully have lingered and are now turning violent in some places. With sponsored thugs already attacking #EndSARS protesters, and the military grunting threats, there are fears a military intervention may be in the offing to end the protests.

It is clear the ongoing #EndSARS protests is taking new and unexpected dimension.

The protests have turned violent, leading to loss of lives and a daring attack on the Osun State Governor Adegboyea Oyetola in Osogbo. A police station in Benin was torched on Monday.

This was despite some state governors, like Seyi Makinde of Oyo, joining the rallies in their states, a move some described as a political stunt.

Yet, despite Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun joining the protests, it still turned violent.

The governor had left Government House at Oke-Fia and even donned a face cap branded with #ENDSARS in solidarity with the protests.

At Olaiya junction, the epicentre of the protest, protesters demanded he apologise for not having joined them since the protests began days ago.

The governor immediately apologized and told the protesters that he identified with them on the #EndSARS agitation.

As he was addressing them, some protesters shouted, “Soro Soke, were,” meaning. “Speak louder, madman.” Stones were thrown. Gunshots followed. And the crowd scattered.

Videos emerged showing the governor’s convoy being chased by protesters with iron bars and machetes as it moved through the crowd to safety.

In Edo, following continued violence since Sunday, the governor has declared a 24 hour curfew in the state.

All these are leading to growing fears that the military may be called in to disperse the protesters. This is especially as the Police have largely kept a low profile to escape attacks from the protesters.

While the military has made noises, threatening protesters and declaring readiness to intervene if necessary, a coalition of 30 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) this Saturday, told the army to suspend its annual exercise tagged Operation Crocodile Smile VI, insisting this amounted to a threat to democracy and the Nigerian Constitution.

The army had, in a statement, by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, said the exercise which is traditionally conducted in the last quarter of the year, will hold from October 20 to December 31.

Musa said this year’s exercise will include cyber warfare exercises designed to identify, track and counter negative propaganda on social media and cyberspace.

The Army spokesman also said, “The NA (Nigerian Army) hereby warns all subversive elements and trouble makers to desist from such acts as it remains highly committed to defend the country and her democracy at all cost,”

He also offered, in a Facebook post, to “support the civil authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order and deal with any situation decisively.” This was coming on a day thugs attacked protesters at Berger Roundabout in Abuja, injuring dozens and destroying cars and other properties.

But the CSOs said that launching such an exercise now is ill timed and would exacerbate the distrust of citizens and worsen the situation.

The leaders of the coalition included Idayat Hassan, CDD; Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, CISLAC; Ezenwa Nwagwu, PER; Cynthia Mabamalu, Yiaga Africa, Jaye Gaskia (TBN); Bukky Shonibare, and Abiodun Bayewu, Global Action spoke at the event.

According to them, the cyber operations were simply an attempt to explain what is unexplainable, and that the Army cannot launch an operation in the context of the ongoing street protest and claim it is going to be on a cyber space.

“The military already said they are loyal to the President, not to the nation and what they were simply saying is that they are prepared, if the president is also prepared, to crush the protesters. That is unconstitutional. The military has no role in intervening in civilian matters because the state has not been overwhelmed. There is no formal invitation from the civil authority to the military that they are overwhelmed.

“The military is playing a dangerous game because we all know that anytime the military made this kind of statement in the past, it always resulted in a coup d’état. So the government should also watch what the military is doing,” Jaye Gaskia said.

On her part, Hassan said, “So far, we can confirm at least 13 persons have been extra judicially killed in the course of the peaceful protest; Oyo, four; Edo, two; Ondo, one; Osun, two; and Lagos, four).

“In addition is the attack on peaceful assemblies in eight states of Oyo, Lagos, Edo, Plateau, Anambra, FCT, Kano and Osun.”

She also said that the threats issued by the Military High Command revealed that an unacceptable move is being made to crush the peaceful protests.

Rafsanjani and Nwagwu on their on their parts, said that it is important to let the Nigerian authorities know that the entire world is watching its response to the legitimate demands of the youths.

“The world is watching the state-sponsored assault on the freedom of expression, and association of Nigerians in the forms of illegal bans on a protest by the governor of Rivers State and the authorities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Abuja). These bans are patently unlawful and constitute an ominous prelude to what we suspect would be a harsh clampdown on citizens,” they said.

Other speakers said the coalition, though not speaking for them, or being their leaders or sponsors, join the protesting youths to demand accountability for previous, current, and ongoing acts of the brutalization of citizens from the government and its agencies, while ensuring that offending officers are identified, investigated, prosecuted, and punished accordingly.

They also demanded that a mechanism be put in place to identify all previous and current victims of police brutality, and ensure that they get justice, including compensations.

They also demanded that President Buhari constitutes and summons an emergency and inaugural meeting of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) provided for in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), in section 216, and whose composition and functions were clearly stated in Part III (Supplemental and interpretation), sections 27 & 28 of the same constitution.

Elsewhere in Lagos on Sunday, the Alliance for Survival of COVID-19 and Beyond, (ASCAB) chaired by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, said that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Tukur Buratai or any of his men risk facing the International Criminal Court, (ICC) in the Hague if any of the #EndSARS protesters is killed.

“The plan to deploy soldiers is dangerous. It will push Nigeria into the red-light district of global reckoning,” the coalition said.

Falana in a statement urged the Federal Government to withdraw plans to use soldiers to quell the protests, specifically asking President Muhammadu Buhari not to invite soldiers to resolve a purely democratic issue that calls for dialogue and constructive engagement.

The Senate President Ahmed Lawan, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Sunday after a meeting with President Buhari at the State House, pointedly told the protesters to end the exercise across the country, to enable governments properly address their concerns and allow the economy to continue.

With Lawan saying that the continuation of the protests was not necessary since the government had agreed to meet the demands of the protesters, it is left to be seen what becomes of the protests and plans by the government to tame the rising anger of the protesters.