The Integrity Youth Alliance, an organisation that has been monitoring the development trends in the Nigeria Police Force for over 15 years, has said that the Take It Back Movement should take advantage of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) Complaint Response Unit (CRU) to report any police misconduct rather than “launch a series of mass campaigns aimed at permanently ending police extortions and unlawful roadblocks across the country.”
Reacting to a publication by Sahara Reporters titled, “TIB Movement Plans Mass Protest Against Police Extortions, Roadblocks At Abuja Headquarters On Monday,” the Publicity Director of the Alliance, Danjuma Lamido, said the TIB-planned mass protest is unlawful assembly as Section 69 of the Criminal Code defines what is meant by “unlawful assembly” to be:
“When three or more persons, with intent to carry out some common purpose, assemble in such a manner or, being assembled, conduct themselves in such a manner as to cause persons in the neighbourhood to fear on reasonable grounds that the persons so assembled will tumultuously disturb the peace, or will by such assembly needlessly and without any reasonable occasion provoke other persons to tumultuously disturb the peace, they are an unlawful assembly.
Also see S. 88 of the Criminal Code, which states:
“Any persons who assemble together, to the number of three or more, under any of the following circumstances—
(a) bearing, wearing, or having amongst them any firearms, bows and arrows, spear, sword, knife, or other offensive weapon; or
(b) publicly exhibiting any banner, emblem, or symbol, the displaying of which is calculated to promote animosity between persons of different religious faiths or different factions, or
(c) being accompanied by any music, beating of drums, or other noise calculated to promote such animosity; and, being so assembled, join in any parade or procession for the purpose of celebrating or commemorating any festival, anniversary, or event relating to or connected with any religious or other distinction or difference between persons residing in Nigeria or of demonstrating any such religious or other distinction or difference, are guilty of an offence.
The above law is also backed by Section 234 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria. Common nuisances
“Any person who (a) obstructs any highway by any permanent work or erection thereon or injury thereto, which renders the highway less commodious to the public than it would otherwise be; or
(b) prevents the public from having access to any part of a highway by an excessive and unreasonable temporary use thereof, or by so dealing with the land in the immediate neighbourhood of the highway as to prevent the public from using and enjoying it securely; or
(c) does not repair a highway which he is bound to repair; or
(d) does not repair a bridge which he is bound to repair; or
(e) wilfully diverts or obstructs the course of any navigable river so as to appreciably diminish its convenience for purposes of navigation; or
(f) does any act not warranted by law, or omits to discharge any legal duty, which act or omission obstructs or causes inconvenience or damage to the public in the exercise of rights common to the public,
“Therefore, we call on the TIB to shelve the planned protest and call the CRU at 09133333785, 09133333786, 08057000001, or 08057000002; SMS or WhatsApp the CRU at 08057000003; and X handle @PoliceNG_CRU with the following: the date of the incident of extortion, the time of the incident, and the location of the incident.
“Abuja does not need obstruction of any highway on Monday morning as it is against the freedom of movement as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Chapter IV, Section 41, the statement concluded.
