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New Page 24
How police handled the strike
MALACHY UZENDU, Abuja
JUSTICE Rose Ukeje,
Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, while delivering ruling on the
suit filed by government against the planned nationwide strike by the Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) over the hike in the price of petroleum products,
specifically mandated the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) "to ensure full
compliance to the court order". Justice Ukeje had while ruling on the objections
raised by the NLC lawyers led by Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), who insisted that
the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit as it was an abuse of court
process, not only approved the NLC’s position but noted that any violation of
the court order will not be taken kindly.
But, as far as the police was concerned,
matters pertaining to enforcement of court order depend largely on the side on
which government stands. The issue in contention had to do with government
approval that petroleum marketers are at liberty to hike the price of petroleum
products without any recourse to any legislative endorsement or the approval of
the regulatory agencies.
If precedents from previous court
pronouncements were anything to go by, analysts are of the opinion that the
police, which has the primary responsibility of maintaining peace and security
in the nation, would naturally defer to the wishes of those in government. As it
did in the court order made by both the High Court and Appeal Court regarding
the restoration of police security to Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra State as
well as previous court pronouncements in which the police had always claimed it
had not been served with a court order contrary to the wishes of the government
in power at the centre. It became obvious that the aspect of the court order
which had to do with marketers would be glossed over by the police.
When the NLC pulled out its members from
offices on June 9, the police rather than target marketers who nationwide had
refused to abide by the court order, pretended that the marketers did not commit
any misdemeanour. As early as 4.00a.m., policemen led by the Commissioner of
Police, Federal Operations, Mr. Lawrence Alobi, took over every strategic public
places, road junctions and installations.
They also stationed truck loads of armed
mobile and regular policemen to keep track of the labour leaders who were being
monitored round the clock. But the heavy police presence and threats by the
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) that workers should not embark on any strike
were ignored by the NLC who insisted that government must first abide by the
court order by asking the marketers to sell fuel at the approved price per litre.
At the Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) Mega Filling Station located at the Central Business
District, policemen were seen assisting Texaco, the marketers to sell fuel at
N51.50 on the first day of the strike. However, after Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
and his colleagues who were monitoring compliance to the court order insisted
that they revert to the approved rate, they merely came down to N41.00 per
liter, while the few petrol stations sold at prices ranging between N43.00 and
N45.00 per liter.
One remarkable thing done by the police
was that unlike in the past, they did not use their tear gas to turn peaceful
scenarios into mayhem. The police to a large extent acted in a civilized manner
devoid of its known deployment of brute force. As a result of this, incidences
of police brutality or arbitrary arrests or issues bothering on outright halting
of a strike by force were completely absent. Mr. Alobi himself, was on top of
the situation. He was said to have given strict orders to his men not to molest
or abuse anyone on account of the strike, but opted to dialogue with the labour
leaders, leading to the suspension of the strike the day after his exchange of
words with the NLC President, Comrade Oshiomhole on the legality or otherwise of
labour embarking on strike.
By the singular action of the police
during the strike, their image and public rating moved up considerably. It had
always been the argument of the NLC leadership that each time they disagreed
with government over any of its policies, it had not been to selfishly favour
the NLC leaders and deny the other citizens the same benefits they intended to
extract from goverment for the masses. Oshiomhole reiterated this point during
his discussions with Alobi, the police boss.
In Abuja, apart of the police being posted
to what Mr. Chris Olakpe, the Police Public Relations Officer described as "key
points, vulnerable points and strategic junctions," only the filling stations
selling fuel were manned by the police. Mr. Olakpe in explaining why the police
provided security to such filling stations said that doing so had nothing to do
with protecting such fuel dealers from not obeying court orders but "merely part
of our statutory duties of safeguarding every place and institution"
Olakpe’s description of the conduct of
Nigerians during the period of the strike was a complete departure from what the
police was known for. He had told our correspondent that "the maturity exhibited
by Nigerians during the period was unparalled." In thanking Nigerians "for their
maturity", Olakpe denied allegation making the rounds that the police shot and
killed two commercial motorcycle (Okada) riders in Abuja on June 10. He stated
that "there was no truth whatsoever in the allegation. "The police did not shoot
anyone not to talk of killing anybody. We do not have any such information in
our records and I can assure you this information is merely the handiwork of
those who would naturally want to tarnish the image of the police."
In Lagos, the police also emerged from the
strike with a clean record. Indeed, they surprised many by the way they went
about ensuring the safety of both the very few that went about their business
while the action lasted and the unionists who went around the state to monitor
the progress of the strike.
The militant unionists and "area boys" who
would ordinarily have been out on the streets trying to stop people from moving
about through burning tyres on the roads or blocking the highways with rubbish
did not give the law enforcement agents the trouble of trying to stop this
activity by not engaging in them at all.
The police operativers deployed in the
expectation that Lagos would be a hot spot, therefore, found themselves standing
idle around bus stops and streets corners.
On Thursday, the second day of the strike,
a convoy of labour unionists went past the Apapa Oshodi Expressway from the Mile
Two end, apparently escorted by siren-blaring police vans. Looking at the
convoy, a journalist was forced to admit that "this should be the role of the
police during strikes and protests. They should be there to protect protesters
and of course, ensure that the protest does not turn violent. They are not to
come out in full battle gear with instructions to break up peaceful protests
with tear gas and live ammunition as they had been known to do in the past".
The police confirmed the new spirit during
"the triumphant entry" into Lagos of Comrade Oshiomhole on Friday morning. The
jubilant crowd that welcomed the labour leader were neither accosted nor
molested by the police as they made their way through the major roads of the
city from the airport to the headquarters of the NLC in Yaba.
Indeed, they facilitated the passage of
the elaborate entourage, made up of motorcycle "outriders", mostly commercial
motorcyclists, otherwise called "Okada" and other members of the public who were
clearly happy with the outcome of the "war" that Oshiomhole had waged against
the Federal Government.
The Labour leader himself soaked in the
admiration of the people as he rode in the open-roof jeep of Performing
Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) President, Charles Oputa, aka Charly
Boy, waving back at those who lined the streets to usher him into Lagos. At
other times, one of the NLC president’s admirers said, "the police people would
have been bathing people with teargas and firing to disperse this peaceful
procession. It is a good development which shouldbe sustained."
Given the conduct of policemen and other
law enforcement agencies during the strike, it has become obvious that the
nation is on a new course in entrenching a culture of high tolerance of public
opinion in law enforcement management. If the nation improves on this, then, the
nation’s law enforcement systems, which have been accused of protecting only the
interests of those in authority in the past, certainly, would be on a path to
creating a new image for itself. And this image would agree totally with one of
the cardinal principles of democracy, freedom to assemble, express opinion and
even protest peacefully.
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