President of Civil Rights Congress,Mallam Shehu Sani has condemned the recent statement credited to the Kaduna state security council banning all forms of Rallies,public procession,conferences and seminars unless with police permit.Sani in a statement today said the ban “stands unreservedly and unambiguously condemned.”
“The order is unconstitutional and illegal.It violates the fundamental rights of citizens to freedom of assembly and of speech.The order is an affront against civil rights and political rights of our people.It is a tyrannical diktat reminiscent of the dark and despicable era of military despotism.
“The 1999 constitution of Nigeria and the recent supreme court ruling guarantees all Nigerians the right to assemble and express opinions without censure or license from security agencies or the ruling party.
The CRC president said “The order is a red flag against freedom and an evil and despotic expression by the Government and the state apparatus.The order is a fascist style intervention to suffocate voices of dissent and emasculate the opposition.The order is an unleashed sadism, corrosive to all ideals of liberty and democracy.”
Read his statement:
We will defy all orders against our freedom
The recent statement credited to the kaduna state security council banning all forms of Rallies,public procession,conferences and seminars unless with police permit,stands unreservedly and unambiguously condemned.
The order is unconstitutional and illegal.It violates the fundamental rights of citizens to freedom of assembly and of speech.The order is an affront against civil rights and political rights of our people.It is a tyrannical diktat reminiscent of the dark and despicable era of military despotism.
The 1999 constitution of Nigeria and the recent supreme court ruling guarantees all Nigerians the right to assemble and express opinions without censure or license from security agencies or the ruling party.
The order is a red flag against freedom and an evil and despotic expression by the Government and the state apparatus.The order is a fascist style intervention to suffocate voices of dissent and emasculate the opposition.The order is an unleashed sadism, corrosive to all ideals of liberty and democracy.
Violence in Kaduna or any part of Northern Nigeria should not be an expedient excuse to extinguish the flames of freedom.A democratic state must learn to balance its security exigencies with its obligation to principles of freedom.Security agencies under a democracy should defend our constitution and not regulate or dictate our freedom.
We need no permit to assemble or to speak,this is a free and democratic state;the order issued by the security agents is antithetical and diabolical to the spirit of democracy.
We fought the military to free our country from tyranny,we fought the military to restore democracy,we will not in anyway obey orders that reverses the wheel of freedom.We will defy any order against our constitutional and fundermental rights.
Kaduna state is not under a state of emergency and we as conscious citizens will not tolerate emergency orders through the back door.
We call on the Governor of Kaduna state to without delay reverse this inglorious and cruel order to avert the dent of its image.
Shehu sani
President
Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria