Rivers in Full Blown Dictatorship -Coalition Group.
Katherine Abayomi.
A worldwide protest was held in Rivers State, Port Harcourt, State capital by the #BringBackGovSim. The protesters demanded that President Bola Tinubu reverse the unconstitutional emergency rule imposed in Rivers State and requested the sack of the sole Administrator, Ibok-Etta Ibas.
The Nigerian police intercepted the protesters on their way to the Federal Secretariat in Port Harcourt with tear gas Canisters, which is a violation of their human rights as concerns peaceful protest.
The take-back movement also demanded the rescind of the cybercafé Act, highlighting the growing economic hardship. Reports across the nation also revealed how security agents forcefully dispersed protesters.
The Rivers state police command has denied firing teargas canisters at the protesters, claiming it was miscreants who were stealing phones from bystanders that were dispersed.
A journalist of Channels Television, Charles Opurum, narrated his ordeal of how he was brutally assaulted and detained by officers of the Nigerian police Force(NPF) while covering the protest. His story adds to those of others who were chased, teargassed, and injured during the peaceful procession.
A former spokesperson for the Rivers State civil society coalition, Solomon Lenu, described the attack by the Nigerian police on unarmed protesters as “the death of democracy in Nigeria “.
“The democracy our people died for has ended.We are now under a full-blown dictatorship, protesting is a right guaranted in the Constitution and they are trampling on it ,he stated.
