Human
rights organisations, under the aegis of the Coalition of Civil
Societies, on Tuesday stormed the office of the Lagos State Governor,
Babatunde Fashola, to protest against the crisis in Rivers State House
of Assembly and the release of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha from prison.
According to the groups,both the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and RSHA crises are “poisonous” to the nation’s democracy.
Inscribed on the placard carried by the
protesters were ‘Save Rivers State from anarchy; ‘No state of emergency
in Rivers State’; ‘Enough is enough in Rivers State’; ‘No to Goodluck
Jonathan impunity’; ‘No dictatorship in the land’;and ‘Political
mathematics: 16 is greater than 5’, among others.
Coordinator of the coalition, Mr. Raji
Rasheed, described the situation in Rivers State as “a state of anarchy”
and warned against attack on the country’s democracy.
He said, “The NGF issue should not be
allowed to degenerate beyond what it is to a state of anarchy. It should
be resolved in the fairest manner. Our democracy needs help and
prevention from risks because many people sacrificed their lives for it.
We don’t want anybody to truncate our democracy.”
Also, a stakeholder in the coalition, Mr. Shina Loremikan
condemned the release of Al-Mustapha.
“The majority leader
of Rivers Assembly has since been arrested and not granted bail nor charged to
court. We will be glad if LASG can approach the Supreme Court over
Al-Mustapha’s judgement for the interest of democracy,” he noted.
Governor Raji FAshola who was represented by his Chief of
Staff, Mr. Lanre Babalola commended the protesters for their peaceful protest.
“The letters will be
sent to the Governor today and I am sure he will act on it immediately. I want
you to maintain peace as i may not be able to make comment on the issue because
of its sensitivity,” he said, while receiving a letter requested to be sent to
the National Assembly through the state.
CULLED FROM: PUNCH NEWSPAPERS
July 31, 2013 by Sodiq Oyeleke
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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