CONTEMPORARY INTROSPECTION INTO PROTESTS ANDANCILLIARY ISSUES IN NIGERIA’S PLEBISCITE DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The work lauded the role of protests in plebiscitary democracy, noting that unlike riot and unlawful assembly, it ordinarily should engender peace. The legal framework for protest such as the Constitution, the Police Act, Public Order Act, Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and other laws, were examined. The obligations of states to citizens, incidents on the streets of Nigeria, protests in other jurisdictions and assessment of the protest, were discussed. The work adopted the doctrinal category of research. Relevant concluding suggestions were made, considering the debilitating demerits and exponential advantages (at the same time) of protests in Nigeria. The work restated the constitutional right of the citizens to protest, but this must be done within the ambits of the law as excesses could lead to riot and, in a few cases, treasonable felony.