Security operatives fired tear gas in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Capital to disperse demonstrators demanding the reinstatement of suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The protest, which drew members of the Take It Back Movement, civil society organisations, and other activist groups, was staged in defiance of the imposition of emergency rule and the appointment of a sole administrator, former Chief of Naval Staff Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, by President Bola Tinubu in March.
Waving placards, protesters converged in Isaac Boro Park, decrying what they described as the unconstitutional removal of a democratically elected government and the misuse of legal instruments such as the Cybercrime Act.
Speaking to the press, the Rivers State coordinator of the Take It Back Movement explained the motivations for the protest.
“We are here as an organization, affiliated with other people. We are here as Rivers people to march and express our grievances. We are not here to cause any harm. This is the security men who have been here, dispersing our people that have been coming,” he said.
The protesters said the people of Rivers deserve to be governed by leaders they elected.
“We are here, we are waiting for some of our members to come and we’ll march on the street peacefully and air our grievances to the government,” he continued.
Listing their demands, the coordinator said: “Number one thing is the repeal of the Cybercrime Act and as Rivers people we are here to speak against the unconstitutional removal of our elected governor and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“We are here to demand a government for the people of Rivers State because at this time now we are without government. This government in Rivers State is alien to our people, it’s unconstitutional. And so we are here to demand that our governor comes back to office and lead us appropriately.
“We have a social contract with the government. We don’t have any contract with the sole administration. This is democracy. We understand. So we are here to march and nobody can tell us where to gather. We are Rivers people. We own this place.”
Another protester echoed the sentiment, calling the current political situation in Rivers a direct attack on democratic values.
“It’s important for River people to understand and Nigerians that what is happening today in Nigeria is actually a rape of democracy because there is no reason whatsoever why an elected government will be suspended for no just cause. We are in a democracy, not in a dictatorship,” he said.
“And people must come out this morning because it is important for them to know that even freedom is not free. You must fight for freedom. What is happening here today is evil, fighting against the democracy that our forebears fought for.
“So if we all sit back and don’t fight back and don’t demand that the constitutionally elected government of Rivers State be reinstated, then of course we have already failed our forebears and that is not what we are going to do.
“So we are using this opportunity to call on Rivers people, men and women, boys and girls, the youth of this generation to come out today to express their grievances and that is what we are going to do because it has guaranteed us in our constitution.”