Hunger protest: Lagos protesters to receive free legal representation

A Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong has revealed that participants in the planned nationwide protest would receive free legal representation if arrested and/or charged to court in Lagos State.

In recent times, some Nigerians, via social media platforms like X and Facebook, have continued to voice their concerns about the economic crisis ongoing in the country.

This is as they announced a protest to be held from August 1-10, 2024.

Effiong, also an advocate of the protests, reacting via his X handle, tweeting as #InibeheEffiong on Thursday, July 25, 2024, solicited legal counsels in the state to offer pro-Borno services.

His tweet read, “We are putting together a legal team in Lagos State to offer representation to any protester who may be arrested and or charged to court during the forthcoming peaceful protest.

“My learned colleagues practising in Lagos, please share your WhatsApp numbers with me via DM if you would love to offer pro bono services to protesters. Thank you. History will vindicate the just.”

In a telephone interview on Friday, one of the legal counsels who offered free legal representation, Omodolapo Yusuff, noted that awareness is key to ensuring that people with ulterior motives aside from the reasons for the planned protest aren’t involved.

Yusuff said, “We should continue to make awareness, to make people understand the reasons why these protests must go on. We are all in this country, buying from the same markets.

“The people coming out to protest are not coming out for themselves but for the betterment of the people at the grassroots.”

“Protest is a fundamental human right,” he said, noting that “some of these men (security operatives) tend to compromise their roles and it is unfortunate that we are in this situation.”

Yusuff played down the possibility of the protest hijack as he stressed that adequate public awareness wouldn’t allow such.

“If we know why we are going to protest, there is no way things would be vandalised. We are going to protect ourselves, public property, private business and against looting,” the lawyer said.

He, however, noted that some of the demands of the protesters include an increase in the national minimum wage of N70,000, and a high cost of food items, among others.

Another lawyer who’s billed to join the legal team, Benjamin Odeh lamented that when leaders are in power, they begin to use “high-handedness” to intimidate the people.

When asked why there are no leaders to front the protests, he said, “Protest is a constitutional right of Nigerians but the challenge we have had over the years is that governments are intolerant of protests from Nigerians,” saying that this causes the government to “find ways to destabilise the protest so they can come in with security forces to attack genuine protesters.”

Whether the planned protest could be hijacked, Odeh recalled that the 2020 #EndSARS “was going on smoothly but when the government saw that the protest was gathering momentum, the government-sponsored thugs destabilise the protest,” adding that the protesters remained steadfast despite the infiltrations.

Some state governors, including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, have urged the protesters to back down, citing that the Federal Government is working to better the nation’s economy.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, held emergency meetings with the All Progressives Congress state governors, prominent traditional rulers and Ulamas (Islamic religious scholars) at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja as part of efforts by the FG to ensure the planned hunger protests are averted nationwide.