The Nigeria Police Force Headquarters has justified the use of tear gas by its officers to disperse protesters in Abuja who were demanding the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
The incident took place in several areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including the Three Arms Zone, Maitama, and Jabi, where demonstrators gathered to protest Kanu’s continued detention by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Reports indicated that the protesters attempted to march towards the Three Arms Zone — an area that houses key national institutions such as the Presidential Villa, National Assembly, and Court of Appeal — prompting police officers to deploy tear gas canisters to disperse them.
However, the police action attracted condemnation from Amnesty International Nigeria, which criticised it as “an attempt to suppress peaceful protests.”
In a statement shared on its official X handle on Monday, Amnesty International said: “Amnesty International receives disturbing reports of attempts to crack down on peaceful protests holding in Abuja, calling for the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
People must be allowed to freely exercise their right to peaceful protest.
Any act capable of undermining freedom of assembly is illegal and portrays unacceptable intolerance of peaceful dissent.”
The human rights organisation urged the Nigerian authorities to ensure that security agencies uphold and protect citizens’ rights to peaceful protest, as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights conventions, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
While appealing to the government to address the concerns of the protesters, Amnesty International also called for an immediate halt to the clampdown on demonstrators.
Responding to the criticism, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, defended the police operation, asserting that it was conducted in accordance with legal restrictions on protests in certain sensitive areas within the FCT.
In a post on his X handle on Monday, Hundeyin stated: “Police tear-gassed protesters attempting to approach Aso Villa in clear contravention of a court order restricting protesters from the Villa, National Assembly, Force Headquarters, Court of Appeal, Eagle Square, and Shehu Shagari Way.
We are the country’s foremost law enforcement agency. We carried out our mandate.
And we did not block the road but cleared it after it was blocked by the protesters to enable other Nigerians easy passage to their respective destinations.”
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has remained in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since June 2021 and is currently standing trial on terrorism-related charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
