LAGOS — Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has expressed concern over the rumoured plan by the Federal Government to send thugs to the hitherto peaceful protests at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Lagos and other parts of the city to instigate wanton violence as a pretext for declaring a state of emergency in the state.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, warned the government to desist from such a dastardly act and allow the people to continue their peaceful protests or, in the alternative, revert to the old petrol price so that the protests can end.

It said the Federal Government, having failed to use ethnicity, religion and the massive infusion of dirty funds to divide organsed labour or frustrate the peaceful protests, may now want to try other underhand tactics to instigate trouble, so it can clamp down on citizens whose only offence was that they dare to protest against an insensitive and inhuman government policy.

ACN reminded the Federal Government that the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and the right to protest were all part of democracy, hence no democratically-elected government can truncate these rights and still hope to maintain its sovereignty.

“Since the fuel strike started, we have noted the increasingly rhetoric emanating from the Federal Government. We have reasons to believe the not-too-subtle threats are a precursor to something sinister by a government that had pushed itself into a cul-de-sac, from which it is now looking for a face-saving way out.”

‘’While we abhor violence as an instrument of protest, an ACN culture that is well known, we must warn that issuing military-era threats are not compatible with a democratic dispensation, and that no amount of force on earth can suppress a determined people,’’ it said.