The president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo on Thursday said the Nigerian Police is mandated by the Police Act and the constitution to provide adequate security for protesters.
Osifo revealed this while addressing the media on the state of the nation in Abuja, while also clarifying that the Congress would not mobilise members to join the protest, as the organisers have not reached out for partnership.
He however noted that the protest was part of the fundamental human rights of every Nigerian, and must not be abused through security force or court orders.
Osifo said: “When you are having a protest, you need to sit down, have a conversation, have meetings, but as of today, nobody has reached out to us that they want to protest.
“Nobody has asked for our collaboration, so how do you expect us to participate in a protest when we don’t know who is organising it?
“We don’t even have any idea whatsoever what is going to happen and as an institution, we also know that we have various organs that we run some of those things with.
“The leadership never sat down one day on the phone to call for a strike or protest but instead we called organs’ meeting to do a review. The same way you saw it in the media is the way we have seen it.
“It’s something we don’t know who is organising it, we don’t know who is protesting but all we know is that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on the issue of protest and the Police Act also mandates the police that when there is a protest they should ensure there is law and order, they should ensure those that are protesting are also protected.
“That is why we are reminding them that the provision in the Police Act and the provision in the Constitution should be respected. If they had contacted us maybe we would have called our organs meeting for us to review but as of today, there is nothing to discuss, there is nothing to review.”
NewsNGR reports that hardship protests being planned mostly by youth who are decrying creeping poverty, unemployment and hardship in the country will commence from August 1 to 10, 2024.
The protest which has raised political discord among parties, has the President Bola Tinubu begging Nigerians to postpone their planned protests while asking for more time to deliver on his administration’s promises.