‘We Fought Back And Threw Tear Gas Back At Authorities During Protests,’ Oshiomhole Recalls Retaliation On Protest Days”

Former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Adams Oshiomhole, has disclosed some details on how he led protests during his leadership of workers in the country and reacted to Police resistance.

According to him, during his time, they (as protesters) sometimes had antidotes to the teargas fired at them, and threw them back at the Police.

The Edo North Senator said protest is never a tea party, and sometimes, the Police might also have to take some uncomfortable decisions in the discharge of their responsibilities.

“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.”

Oshiomhole stated further that Police may not deliberately want to tear gas protesters, but they and other security forces might, of a necessity, have to use different methods to 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.

The ex-president of the NLC commended the “civil” conduct of the police as the #EndBadGovernance protests entered the third day, saying police gave sachet water to peaceful protesters in states like Lagos.

“It is not about how the police respond now but in totality, the police under this IG has been quite civil,” he said.

On protesters calling for a ‘take back’ of Nigeria because they lost the 2023 election, the former Edo State Governor said election is the only constitutionally-allowed method for a change of government.

He added that Nigeria is not under foreign occupation, so therefore, the protesters can’t talk about reclaiming Nigeria.

“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.