The federal high court in Abuja has has rejected and dismissed an application seeking to endbadgovernance protesters from continue with their protests.
Justice Pter Lifu gave the dismisal on Monday while ruling in an parte motion filed by Danladi Goje, Buky Abayomi, Adiza Abbo, and 13 other Nigerians who were seeking to stop the protest from continuing.
In the application dated August 12, the applicants sought the enforcement of their fundamental rights against the organisations involved with the protests.
The organisations sued as 1st to 8th respondents are Take It Back Movement, Concerned Nigerians, Nigerians Against Hunger, Initiative For Change, Human Rights Co-advocacy Initiative, Nigerian Against Corruption Initiative, Citizens for Change Advocacy Initiative, and Timely Intervention
The 9th to 19th respondents are Active Citizens Group, Students For Change, We Coalition, Total Intervention, Refurbished Nigeria, Tomorrow Today, Our Future In Our Hands Initiative, Youths Against Tyranny, Save Nigeria Movement, Omoyele Sowore, and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Other respondents in the matter are the attorney general of the federation and security agencies.
In the court documents, Tsembelee Sorkaa, the applicants’ lawyer, said his clients’ rights to life, personal liberty, private and family life, and economic activities would be further breached if the 1st to 19th respondents continued the protest.
Sorkaa urged the court to restrain the 1st to 19th respondents from continuing with the protest pending the determination of his motion on notice.
The lawyer also appealed to the court to enforce the restraining order if it is granted.
In his ruling, Lifu said the #EndBadGovernance protest ended last week, noting that there was no evidence presented before the court showing that the protesters would reconvene later.
The judge said the applicants’ lawyer cannot rush his notice ex parte without providing the required affidavit to support the requests for an interim injunction and substituted service.
He dismissed the application for lacking merit and adjourned the hearing on the motion on notice to August 29.
The magazine reported that many angry Nigerians had stormed major cities across the country for 10 days between August 1-10 to force government hands to change the ongoing economic hardship in the country.
Not a few Nigerians have blamed the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu for bringing untold hardship to Nigerians through the fuel subsidy removal and convergence of the foreign exchnage market.
Thus following the 10-day protests, the organisers had insisted that they will continue in October to put pressure on the government to end the hardship in the land.
“When we start in October, we will not stop until these demands are met. Already, that conversation is going on and more plans by the organisers will be announced to the general public,” Omoyele Sowore, one of the organisers said.
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