The recent clampdown on #EndSARS protesters by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is an ignominious and reprehensible act of violence against social and political activism and, by extension democracy. It is shameful, embarrassing and unacceptable that in a supposedly democratic government, demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights to peacefully protest against police brutality, could be so brazenly muzzled. This certainly portends danger for the country and President Muhammadu Buhari should not just watch the unfolding drama idly but should call the CBN authorities to order and stop what could portray his administration as fascist and dictatorial.
The monumental embarrassment came without prior notice. The CBN in October froze the account of 20 persons alleged to have funded the two-week-long protest against harassment, extortion and extra-judicial killings by the now disbanded police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the country. Some of the accounts frozen were in Access bank, Guaranty Trust, Zenith Bank and other financial institutions. The apex bank claimed the accounts were being used to finance acts of terrorism in country, thereby, violating the Section 13(1)(a)and(b) of the Terrorism (Prevention)(Amendment) Act, 2013 and Regulation 31(2)(a)and (3)(b) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2013.
There is no other way to interpret this brigandage visited on #EndSARS protesters other than that, it amounts to a mindless circumvention of the 1999 Constitution and an assault on democracy. Gagging peaceful protests, wittingly or unwittingly, is an infringement that must not be contemplated or tolerated. It is just as well that human rights groups, civil society organizations and opposition parties have criticized the government of being oppressive; by trying to intimidate and muzzle dissent. For starters, the CBN is neither a law enforcement agency nor part of the security apparatus of the state and should not engage in the business of determining who is sponsoring terrorism; let alone abuse its authority to take action against alleged terrorism.
Besides, there is no official statement by President Buhari or any other authority domestic or foreign designating the #EndSARS protesters as terrorists. In addition, the protests were largely peaceful until the gory shooting of armless protesters by soldiers at the Lekki tollgate which sparked nationwide outrage and riots and looting. Finally, his petulance, foul temperament and flamboyant imaginary self-concept notwithstanding, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele should be reminded that he is not the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and he should stop usurping the powers and functions of the AGF.
If the CBN really had actionable intelligence as claimed, of people financing the #EndSARS protests to destabilize the country, the right thing to do was not to freeze their accounts. If that was the case, the intelligence agencies should have been more proactive in dealing with the situation. It should be able to isolate the culprits and, accordingly, deal with them professionally. What has played out could be a prelude to phantom terrorism allegations against #EndSARS and other pro-democracy activists, which could create more problems for the system.
It is indeed an irony of fate that the CBN should be freezing bank accounts of suspected #EndSARS protests sponsors; and it is questionable whether “sponsoring” peaceful protests against police brutality is a crime in itself. Perhaps Emefiele needs to be reminded that the pig-headed policies he has enacted and implemented at CBN have actually given rise to Nigeria’s hostile economic environment with such dismal features as unproductive real sector amidst abundant human and material resources, high import dependency including import of loans and capital by businesses, while domestic financial potential is grossly underutilized. The result has also been growing unemployment and rising absolute poverty level which, added to police brutality, fueled the #EndSARS protest. Instead of wasting time dabbling into matters that are beyond his remit, Emefiele should busy himself by implementing policies that will have Nigeria recover from the ongoing Covid-19 recession. One thing Emefiele can do is to stop bowing to the federal executive arm of government by ending the dollarization of the Nigerian economy and refusing to withhold Federation Account (FA) allocations which form the major segment of forex supply in dollars. The substitution by CBN of huge printed naira amounts wrongly equated to the withheld dollar allocations bloats money supply, undermines the exchange rate fixing system and subjects the economy to unintended excessive fiscal deficit levels whose adverse features characterize the economy.
The unjustified crackdown by the CBN opens a new frontier for the Buhari administration to go after its perceived political enemies, real or imagined. There is hardly a better guise under which a government can begin a systematic circumvention of the human rights and freedoms of its citizens as well as systematic erosion of democracy. The CBN action has been followed by sundry actions and frivolous lawsuits targeting #EndSARS protesters and their leaders. Ostensibly trying to raise his public nuisance value, a moron who identified himself as Okeke Kenechukwu has filed a lawsuit against many high profile Nigerians for their involvement in the #EndSARS protests.
Okeke in a suit filed at the Magistrate Court, Abuja, listed 38 Nigerians including the senior pastor of Daystar Church, Sam Adeyemi, music producer Don Jazzy, Tuface Idibia, Davido, Falz, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Aisha Yesufu, Peter and Paul Okoye, Kiki Mordi, Banky W, Joe Abah and others as defendants. Okeke said the defendants through their Twitter accounts “did conspire to commit misdemeanor, to wit, promoting or acting in such a manner to assist in the promotion of unlawful assembly under the guise or composition of #EndSARS,” which in his view, is an offence “punishable under Section 97 (2) of the Penal Code Act, C53 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.” Okeke claimed his properties were “egregiously destroyed by some riotous and tumultuous persons instigated by the defendants.”
Okeke’s suit comes weeks after a former presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Adamu Garba filed a suit at the federal high court, seeking to ban the use of Twitter in Nigeria. Adamu claimed that #EndSARS agitators used Twitter to galvanize themselves in an undemocratic manner to oust President Muhammadu Buhari from office. Last week, an association of northern governors held an emergency meeting where they announced that censorship of social media was one of the most critical subjects of their deliberation.
The governors said social media was being used to threaten national security and urged the Federal Government to censor social media in the country, saying the ‘oneness of Nigeria is a non-negotiable’. Nigerians are not fooled and no one should think them for fools. The standing view is that these anti-democratic reactions to the #EndSARS protests, including the frivolous lawsuits, are being filed by government proxies to further stifle the peoples’ rights to freedom of expression after two weeks of #EndSARS nationwide protests almost brought down the Buhari regime.
In a democratic dispensation, if anyone is suspected of breaking any law, the right thing to do is for the complainant to go to court and press charges. And for any involvement or collaboration with terrorists or criminals, there is the anti-terrorism law in place under which the culprits could be charged. Freedom to freely protest peacefully is guaranteed by the Constitution and the citizens have a duty to hold their governments to account. An informed citizenry remains the bedrock and formidable partner in fostering good governance and national unity. Whether President Buhari authorized the unwarranted CBN assault on #EndSARS protesters or not, he bears responsibility for that irresponsible action, as the buck stops on his desk. And history will judge him harshly if he does not speak up against this assault and insist on its never happening again.
