National Protest: “Stop This Massacre” – Joe Ajaero

With unconfirmed reports putting casualties at 40+ in in two days of managing the the EndHunger protest across the country, we have sufficient reasons (backed up by reports and video clips) to call to question the professionalism of our security personnel as this represents nothing but MASSACRE  of citizens.

Had the security personnel deployed the same thoughtless brutal precision against bandits or other criminals, our country would have been an Eldorado.

As the lead-agency   in internal security management, the police bear the burden of this massacre.

Kaduna State police command  under the watch of Compol Audu Ali Dabigi represents the worst case scenario in which one of the fleeing protesters was heard on camera desperately appealing to deployed police personnel  to not  shoot until his voice was drowned by a hail of bullets with the resultant death of a  protester on the spot and several  injured.

In the same breadth, Edo State Police Command under the personal command of COMPOL Funsho  Adegboroye represents the best in crowd management as he could be heard interacting and cajoling the protesters and almost effortlessly bringing them under control.

It might be convenient to  argue that the two states do  have different socio-cultural millieux, however, an incontestable truth common to both, and  indeed, all the states is that human life is sacred and should NEVER be taken.

We are deeply saddened by this  wanton taking of life by trigger-happy police personnel.

In Asokoro, Abuja under the command of Compol  Bennett Igweh, protesters were heard querying why the police were shelling or tear-gassing them as they were marching solemnly without breaking a twig.

One noticeable pattern was that once police personnel  introduced violence, all hell broke loose in fulfilment of the credo that violence begets violence.

We pause to ask, what happened to all the years of training or experience? No lessons learnt or was this a case of loss of human values on an industrial scale? Don’t our police personnel watch their colleagues in other parts of the world manage equally challenging (if not worse) situations?

For a start, we demand  that the cops with blood stains on their hands be fished out for appropriate disciplinary action. Ditto their commanders.

Secondly, adequate compensations should be paid to the families of casualties while  government should be responsible for the treatment and rehabilitation of the injured.

Thirdly, all those arrested should be released immediately and unconditionally.

We commend NBA national leadership for directing its human rights  committees across the cities to be vigilant.  We urge them to see it to it that no one is held against their will in connection with the protest.

On no account again should the police use live ammunition in managing protests no matter how difficult they get.

In the days ahead, we look forward to a better crowd control mechanism even as the new directive from the IGP would sound to some of the personnel as a license to kill without reason.

We would be monitoring closely as the situation unfolds.  The police as the lead-agency vested with power and authority on issues of internal security should not only lead by (a good) example but an inspiration to other services.

However, if the police in self-righteousness consider this advice as meddlesomeness and persist in their slaughter,  they will be unwittingly creating a situation they were supposed to  help avert in the first place. And we as members of organised labour will be left with no choice than the moral burden to act in protection of ordinary citizens.

Finally, we do believe the ultimate solution lies with government, the decisions it takes, the compromises it is willing to make in the face of   the genuine demands by the protesters.

As we had stated in our statements of July 22nd and 23rd, the clearest path to a  lasting solution is for government to sit down with leaders of the protest and negotiate in good faith. Time is of essence as no one is impressed by the sophistry of  government officials/hirelings or threats by the police or the military.  We are all Nigerians, after all.

 Comrade Ajaero is the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC