#EndBadGovernance Protest: Femi Falana Says It’s Not A Criminal Offence To Hoist Foreign Flags
Femi Falana, SAN, criticizes the Federal Government’s recent arraignment of minors for treasonable offences following the August #EndBadGovernance protests, leading to President Bola Tinubu ordering case dismissals on humanitarian grounds.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and
rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has faulted the recent arraignment of minors involved in the last August #EndBadGovernance protests across the country for treasonable offences.
In August, the Federal Government arrested scores of children for hoisting Russian flags in some northern states during the 10- day protests over bad governance and charged before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Following series of backlash that trailed the arraignment, President Bola Tinubu ordered the discontinuation of the cases as well as the immediate release of the suspects leading to the striking out of the cases before the court, citing humanitarian grounds.
However, Falana who spoke as guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on Wednesday, noted that it was not an offence in Nigeria to hoist the flag of any country, adding that while some hotels hoist foreign flags, even as some big churches also display the Israeli flags as well as those of other countries in their premises.
“Some churches in Nigeria, believing erroneously that Israel is a Christian country, hoist the flag of Israel. So it is not a criminal offence.
“If a democratically elected government is asked to leave office, you might say they are expressing their views. The armed forces did very well by saying ‘We are going to involve ourselves in the removal of the President. We are loyal to the Constitution, we are loyal to the President.’
“It is the government now that is trying to remind people. Government should have ignored and then addressed the issues that led people to the streets."
Commenting on the inscriptions displayed by the protesters demanding the removal of the President, Falana noted that their action was not tantamount to treason, pointing out that bought to have addressed the issues raised during the nationwide demonstrations rather than arresting and charging the demonstrators for treasonable offences.
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