BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
SENIOR Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said on Sunday that no government would pat promoters of the #EndSARS protest on the back in view of the loss of lives, violence and massive looting that marred the protest nationwide.
He said the Nigerian Constitution defined the rights of citizens to protest in a peaceful way, noting, however, that when such protests turned into riots and violence, the law must be allowed to take its course.
Shehu spoke on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics programme.
On the freezing of the accounts of 20 #EndSARS promoters, the Presidential spokesperson, while indicating that President Muhammadu Buhari was aware of the development, said those who caused unrest in the country must face the law, adding that the buck stopped on Buhari’s table.
“This country has only one President and one Constitution. President Muhammadu Buhari is responsible for his Government; the buck stops on his table,” he said.
“We are a country governed by law. There is a constitution, which clearly defines the rights of citizens to protest freely and in a peaceful way. But where a peaceful protest turns into riot, looting and violence, Government must perform its duty of maintaining law and order,” he added.
According to him, there was massive looting of public and private properties, especially in Lagos, Plateau, Taraba, Calabar, Abuja and many other parts, and the laws of the country must come into play in deciding how culpable people are.
“The laws of the country must be allowed to decide on wrongdoing on the part of anybody. I am not particular about any celebrity or promoter but this country has been harmed enormously and people should be prepared to account for what they did,” Garba noted.
He said no one, including its promoters, could ignore the destruction that followed the #EndSARS protest.
The Point had reported that the Federal High Court, Abuja, had granted the Central Bank of Nigeria the approval to freeze the bank accounts of 20 promoters of the #EndSARS protests.
The apex bank obtained the approval to freeze the affected accounts, domiciled in Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Zenith Bank, till January 2021, in the first instance, following a motion ex parte it filed before the Federal High Court.
The accounts, the judgment said, had been frozen pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by the CBN.
The 20 defendants are: Bolatito Oduala, Chima Ibebunjoh, Mary Kpengwa, Gatefield Nigeria Limited, Saadat Bibi, Bassey Israel, Wisdom Obi, Nicholas Osazele, Ebere Idibie, Akintomide Yusuf, Uhuo Promise, Mosopefoluwa Odeseye and Adegoke Emmanuel, according to the suit marked “FHC/ABJ/CS/1384/2020”.
Others are Umoh Ekanem, Babatunde Segun, Mulu Teghenan, Mary Oshifowora, Winifred Jacob, Victor Solomon, and Idunu Williams.
Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), led the CBN’s team of lawyers.
