Public Order Act And Peaceful Protest In Nigeria
Oguonu, Chika Njideka, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
The Public Order Act is one of the laws of Nigeria designed for the purposes of proper and
peaceful conduct off public assemblies, meetings and processions. The government of each state
was empowered by the Act to direct the conduct of all assemblies, meetings and processions on
the
public roads or places of public resort in the state and prescribe the route by which and the times
at which any procession may pass. The Act states that any person desirous of convening any
public gathering or conducting any procession shall apply to obtain a license. As Nigerian
democracy stabilized, scholars have argued that the Act is undemocratic and that the Act
contradicted section 40 of the 1999 constitution which provided for freedom of assembly and
association. According to this section, "Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and
associate with other persons and in particular, he may form or belong to political party, trade
union or any other association for the protection of his interest..." This section stands provided
that the provisions "shall not derogate from the powers conferred by the 1999 constitution on
Independent National Electoral Commission with respect to political parties to which that
commission does not accord recognition". Civil societies in Nigeria especially the Civil Liberty
Organization has sued for the repeal of such Act to respect the citizens' constitutional rights of
assembly and association. Despite that the Abuja Court of Appeal has quashed the Act in 2007,
the implementation of this ruling is still questionable epecially in respect of how public gatherings
are handled. The repeal of Public Order Act has not enhanced the freedom of citizens to protest
or conduct public rallies in Nigeria. The police continue illegal arrest of citizens or members of
civil society involved in the public protest or rallies, insisting that the citizens must obtain a license
from the police to embark on any public protest or rally. The rationale for police refusal to
implement the 2007 court ruling on the Public Order Act suggests that the police in Nigeria focus
largely on protecting the government at the detriment of protecting the rights of the people. This
police behaviour is traceable to the colonial history of the Nigerian police. The police in Nigeria
was formed to implement colonial orders and not to protect lives and properties of
citizens/natives. Nigeria became a complete police state after the post colonial nationalist leaders
inherited the colonial police without significant reforms. This in part explains the incessant police
brutality in Nigeria during protests and rallies by citizens. Civil Liberty Organization, a human right
defence group has often clashed with the Nigerian police which restrict the people from
expressing one of the most fundamental human rights - right of association - enshrined in the
constitution. This article examines the effect of Public Order Act on peaceful protests in Nigeria.
Qualitative data shall be collected from the archives of civil societies in Nigeria. Logical inference
and libertarian theory shall be used for analysis. Some of the assumptions of the theory are the
expressions of free will;individual's rights and voluntary cooperation of the citizens. Among the
recommendations of possible ways to improve state - civil society relations in Nigeria is that the
law enforcement agencies who continue to implement the Public Order Act should be reeducated
to respect the rights of the citizens to support or oppose public policies through protests or rallies.
