Why We Tear Gassed Anti-Buhari Protesters -Police …Senate Says President Hasn’t Violated Any Law

The police yesterday gave reasons why officers attacked participants at a rally protesting President Muhammadu Buhari’s indefinite medical vacation in London.
An entertainer and rights activist, Charlie Boy, and Uyi Amadin, a security correspondent with Silverbird Television, as well as his cameraman, sustained injuries during the clampdown, it was learnt.
Yesterday’s exercise marked the second day of the action, which began on Monday morning at Unity Fountain, Abuja.
The demonstrators are calling on the President to either return to the country or resign.
The president has been away since May 7, 93 days ago, with citizens having only a sparse idea about his well-being other than a few pictures distributed by his office which showed him meeting visiting leaders from the country.
Yesterday, the protesters, numbering only about ten, according to witnesses, returned to the park, which is located opposite Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Maitama.
The ground has been used by BringBackOurGirls campaigners for their daily sit-out since 2014.
Anjuguri Manzah, spokesperson for the FCT Command, said officers moved to disperse “some miscreants, hoodlums and other criminal elements that have infiltrated the protest.”
Mr. Manzah accused the protesters of “blocking major roads” adjoining the area”, thereby preventing citizens from free passage.
But those who witnessed the attack contradicted the police’s account.
Mr. Amadin, who said he arrived early to cover the event, said the police moved against the protesters, who were “not more than 10.”
The reporter told The Tide that the officers informed the protesters that they had “orders from above” to crack down on the protesters when they return to Unity Fountain.
“They even unleashed fighter dogs against the protesters, including Charlie Boy,” he said.
“When they started beating me despite identifying myself as a journalist, they saw my cameraman filming the whole scene from afar and they swooped on him too and severely injured him.
“They seized our camera and did what they wanted with it,” the reporter added.
He said the protesters were clearly not violent.
When our correspondent sought police’s explanation for the attack on Mr. Amadin, force spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said the reporter should go and report the assault at the police station.
“We’re not aware that any journalist was caught in the confrontation,” Mr. Moshood said. “But the person can go to the station to lodge a complaint.”
On Monday, the protesters marched under the supervision of the police, which was confirmed by Mr. Manzah in his latest statement.
Deji Adeyanju, convener of Concerned Nigerians which was amongst the coalition of civic groups that put together the exercise, said the Buhari administration was “clearly uncomfortable with the success of the protest on Monday.”
“One thing is: The government cannot deal with us so ruthlessly for the past two years and still tell us that we cannot wail,” he added.
“This is just the beginning because we will not allow a sick old man to continue to hold the collective destiny of 180 million people to ransom,” he said.
The presidency defended the rights of the protesters to assemble and vent their grievances as emblematic of a democratic system, but faulted demands for Mr. Buhari’s resignation.
“The President has complied 100 per cent with the constitution by handing over power to the Vice-President before proceeding on his vacation,” Mr. Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said. “He has not breached any law or the constitution by staying away from office to take care of his health.”
Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday said President Muhammadu Buhari had not violated any law by not returning from medical vacation after 90 days.
The Senate made this known in a statement by its spokesman, Aliyu Abdullahi in Abuja.
It was reacting to protests by a coalition of civil society organisations, operating under the aegis of “Our Mumu Don Do”, demanding the resignation of the president over his long medical vacation in London.
It urged the protesters to stop heating up the polity, saying that it was creating unnecessary tension in the country.
The upper chamber said that the protest was an attempt to divert the attention of the Presidency from the economic and security issues, which were already being tackled.
It explained that Mr. Buhari had complied with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulated that he must handover to the Vice President and duly inform the two chambers of the legislature about his medical vacation.
“The president has broken no law and therefore we do not see any justification for this diversion and noise-making.
“The sponsors are merely seeking cheap publicity at the expense of the peace of Nigeria.
“We, in the National Assembly, are satisfied that there is no vacuum. The Federal Government is working.
“Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is providing the required leadership. So, there is no reason for the protests.
“All Nigerians now should focus on praying for the safe return of the President.
“We in the Senate are happy about the report by the governors and party leaders, who recently visited President Buhari in London and we know he will soon return to continue to provide leadership to our people and the rest of Africa.
“We therefore call on the protesters to stop all these demonstrations and let their sense of patriotism overshadow the zeal for activism by joining other Nigerians to pray for the president.
“We should also pray for the acting president and Nigeria as a country at this critical period,” it stated.