Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, stated that it is an “uncomfortable responsibility” for the police to have to resist protesters.
“Is there anywhere in the world where you haven’t seen protests being resisted by the police? It is an uncomfortable responsibility they have to take,” he said on Channels Television’s The August Protests show on Saturday.
“When I was leading workers when they tear-gassed us, we sometimes had the antidote; we threw the tear gas back.”
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When asked about his stance on the police using tear gas on protesters in major cities across Nigeria since Thursday, former Edo governor Adams Oshiomhole remarked that protests are not a “tea party,” and that security agencies may have to employ various methods to manage and resist protesters.
“If police believe that you might have to destroy or kill someone, they might have to use those methods. Any protest is a struggle; it is not a tea party.
“So, I, of course, did not celebrate that but I saw a commissioner of police in one state procuring not tear gas but water to give to those who were protesting peacefully,” he said.
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The former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) praised the “civil” conduct of the police as the #EndBadGovernance protests entered their third day, noting that in states like Lagos, police officers even provided sachet water to peaceful protesters.
“It is not about how the police respond now but in totality, the police under this IG has been quite civil,” he said.
He criticized the demands of some “amorphous groups” who rejected the results of the 2023 presidential election and joined those protesting against hunger and economic hardship.
He emphasized that Nigeria is not under foreign occupation, and therefore, the protesters cannot talk about reclaiming the country.
“Some people want regime change. You cannot peacefully demand that because the Constitution forbids you to make demands that are unlawful within the position of the Constitution.
“The only legitimate for those who lost the election is that they must, as of necessity, under the constitution, wait for the next round of elections. Till then, there is nothing they can do. If they seek to short-circuit the system, there will be a problem,” he said.
