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Security was tightened on Tuesday, February 10, 2025, around the National Assembly complex in Abuja as demonstrators under the Occupy National Assembly (NASS) movement gathered for a second day to demand the inclusion of electronic transmission of election results in the proposed Electoral Law.
Witnesses said the number of security personnel at the complex was higher than during the first day of the protest.
Soldiers and operatives from multiple security agencies cordoned off access routes leading to the legislature.
Some demonstrators questioned the scale of the deployment, insisting the demonstration was peaceful and protected under the constitution.
Security agencies present included the Nigerian Army’s Guards Brigade, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
The security deployment, according to human rights activist Aisha Yesufu, was excessive and unconstitutional.
She said, “Today, again, we are seeing heavily armed security operatives, whether battalions or otherwise, brandishing tear gas canisters and life-threatening weapons. We even saw the military deployed earlier today.”
Yesufu also questioned the presence of soldiers at the protest, asking, “Why is the Nigerian military here when the country’s territorial integrity is under serious threat elsewhere?”
“The police are supposed to be in charge of internal security. But instead of reform when they fail, we see the military, DSS, and other armed forces deployed against unarmed citizens,” she stated.
Yesufu told soldiers gathered at the location that their “job description does not include standing against citizens exercising their right to protest.”
She also referenced the #EndSARS protest in Lagos in 2020 and urged security personnel to avoid repeating past incidents.
“Before you pull that trigger or carry out that order, ask yourself whether it is constitutional or unconstitutional,” she warned.
