Abia State Governor Alex Otti has emphasised that protesting without police approval is illegal.
During a visit from Peter Obi, former governor of Abia State and ex-Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Otti urged Abia residents to refrain from protesting.
This comes as many Nigerians and civil society organisations plan to demonstrate against hunger and hardship in the country, dubbed the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.
The protest is scheduled to hold from August 1 to 10.
Otti said, “It would be very unfair to say things are not difficult now. Things are difficult; hunger is real and that is true. But how do you solve the problem? The problem we found ourselves in in the country today is economic.
“Will I say that we are actually paying the price for bad governance that didn’t start today? First of all, for you to organise a protest, the law requires that you get approval from security forces particularly the police.
“And somebody should take responsibility for getting that approval and if you don’t have the approval then it would be against the law for you to go out on the streets to protest.
“So my final word is that people should think about the implications of pouring out on the streets, restricting movement of other people and possibly inflicting harm and more hardship on the people.”
“For people in Abia, my advice is that people should not pour out on the streets because it may be more hurtful than the reason for the protest that people are calling for,” he added.
Meanwhile, Obi said it is the constitutional right of citizens to protest, adding that hunger and hopelessness are responsible for the agitation.
He, however, added that it must be done “within the law”.
He also called on security agencies not to be “overbearing,” adding they should manage the situation “within the law”.
He called on the authorities to listen to the yearnings of the people.
