Warn IG against rally disruption, Falana tells AGF

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, to warn the Nigeria Police to desist from further dispersing meetings and rallies of Nigerians under any guise.
Falana said this against the background of an alleged cancellation of a ‘two-day colloquium on Freedom of Information convened by the Anti-Corruption Network’ scheduled to hold at NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja on Tuesday.
He stated this  in a letter dated November 12, 2013, to the AGF. The letter was titled, ‘Contemptuous breach of the fundamental right of Nigerian people to freedom of association by the Nigeria Police Force’.
The Lagos lawyer argued that Tuesday’s disruption  gave “a dangerous impression that the Federal Government has declared a war against organisations.”

He said among those scheduled to attend the cancelled colloquium were “local and international participants, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives as well as the representatives of the Senate President.”
He threatened to institute a contempt suit against the IG if such gathering was disrupted by the police in the future.
He argued that the disruption of the colloquium by the police amounted to contempt of the order of the Federal High Court and that of the Court of Appeal and “a violation of the fundamental rights of Nigerians to associate and assemble peacefully.”
Falana stated that both courts had in the case of  the All Nigeria Peoples Party v. IG (2006),  held that no police permit was required for “holding of rallies or processions in any part of Nigeria.”
He said, “In the light of the foregoing, we urge you as the chief law officer of the federation to caution the IG to desist from interfering with the fundamental right of Nigerians to hold meetings and convene rallies.”

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