Another leading member of the #EndSARS movement, Aisha Yesufu, argued that the government and police had no right to stop the protests, adding that there were several court orders to support her stance.
She advised the FCT minister to focus on the security challenge facing the nation’s capital, noting that the rising cases of abductions in the satellite towns should be his concern.
Yesufu said, “People are being kidnapped in satellite towns close to Abuja, he (the FCT minister) has never said anything. The constitution allows protest and he cannot stop it. In 2014 when the police said we could not protest in Abuja, the #BringBackOurGirls movement went to court and won the case.”
The activist also called for the removal of the IG, saying “he has lost control of his men and the best thing is for him to go.”
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The Executive Director of the Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson, said “The purported ban on peaceful protests by the FCT Administration is unconstitutional, illegal, invalid, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and should be disregarded in its entirety.
“Only the President can invoke the Quarantine Act under Section 4. While FCT is under President’s control, its minister cannot stand as a surrogate to invoke Quarantine Act.”
Also, a former President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Mr Malachy Ugwummadu, described the FCTA’s statement as unconstitutional and ill-advised, noting that Nigerians have right, under Section 39 of the Constitution, to protest.