The Federal Government (FG) said that the protesting members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) that blocked the Lagos-Ibadan expressway are doing so in violation of the country’s law.
This was made known by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, while briefing State House correspondents, on Wednesday, at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister further stated that the Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) recognises and protects citizens’ right to public protests but does not empower any Nigerian to “inflict pain and inconvenience on other people.”
Fashola’s explanation is coming on the heels of the reports that the protest embarked upon by NANS on Tuesday caused a gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, leaving motorists and passengers stranded.
The protest was staged very close to the Sagamu Interchange section of the expressway, towards Lagos.
The mammoth of students were seen carrying placards with different inscriptions and chanting solidarity songs as they lamented the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, that has prolonged for seven months as they vowed to extend the protest to other major highways in the country until the strike is called off.
While fielding questions from journalists on the recurrent gridlock on the uncompleted sections of the highway, Fashola appealed for more patience from Nigerians saying that there is no alternative route in the already built-up areas.
He said “Once again, I apologise and empathise with commuters who need that place to get on with their lives. It’s the place we left to the last really because it’s the most built-up area, the last six kilometers into Lagos; very densely populated and occupied. There’s very little room for alternative routes for people. So, you just have to bear with us.
“I also heard that some aggrieved students under the aegis of NANS are going to the road to protest. My respectful view is that it is not helpful at all to the citizens.
“The right to protest is a very well-protected right in our Constitution, but it does not include the right to inflict pain and inconvenience on other people. And so, whilst the protests can go on, they should refrain from blocking the road in order to do their protests. That in itself is a violation of law.”
