Nigerian Lawyer, Social Commentator Clash Over Endsars memorial

AS Nigerians mark the first year memorial of the Endsars protests that rocked the nation on 20th October 2020, a legal practitioner Barrister Mike Umonnan has reiterated the need to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The Endsars protests were held across Nigeria this time in 2020 as the call to end police brutality received massive amounts of support which culminated in the hitherto peaceful protests that turned violent.

Ummonan in an interview with Prime Business Africa states that the police have no rights any stop effect the arrests of those who want to immortalise the day that saw hordes of civilians and military personnel lose their lives with government properties worth billions of Nigerian naira destroyed.

“With respect to the #endsars protest commemoration, police have no right to ban any gathering. Chapter 4, sections 33—44 states the fundamental human rights of any citizen, which should not be trampled upon,” the legal luminary emphasised.

According to the Political Analyst, Nigeria is gradually sliding into a state of anarchy as the constitution has been jettisoned, and arbitrariness is fast becoming the order.

Ummonan however warned well-meaning Nigerian youth to avoid a repeat of October 20, 2020, as their good-hearted protestations could be hijacked by societal dregs

Meanwhile, a Social commentator, Ekunjinmi Nelson, is of the opinion that there is nothing to commemorate. In his opinion the youths went overboard with their protest and that led to the carnage experienced by both the protesters and police.

The social commentator who is also a member of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) said:

“Are we commemorating the brutality of the police against the masses or are we commemorating the carnage, because private businesses were robbed, lives were lost, security personnels were killed.

Reacting further to the proposed commemoration of the October 20, 2020 massacre at the Lekki toll gate where many lives were lost, Ekunjinmi explains that “the original focus of the protest was the brutality of policemen against harmless citizens, which any sane nation should frown at.

“But burning police stations, killing security personnel and committing other crimes in the process, the government had to wade in.

“We sympathize with families who lost loved ones and that is why in my opinion they should forget about any anniversary to avoid anything that can lead to a repeat of October 20, 2020, Ekunjinmi concluded.