Police Barricade Venue Of Anti-Tinubu Meeting, Convener Protests

Police operatives on Sunday barricaded a venue in Kano where members of the ‘Tinubu Must Go’ movement planned to hold a meeting, prompting protests from the group over what it described as an infringement on their constitutional rights.

Abba Hikima, a lawyer and one of the movement’s conveners, alleged that more than 10 Mobile Police vehicles were deployed to prevent members from accessing the private event centre they had booked for the gathering.

In a live video posted on his verified Facebook page, Hikima, dressed in a shirt and fez cap bearing the inscription ‘Tinubu Must Go’, condemned the police presence and vowed that the group would continue its activities.

The movement describes itself as a non-partisan platform aimed at mobilising Nigerians to vote President Bola Tinubu out of office in the 2027 general elections. It cited the administration’s economic policies, which it said had worsened hardship among citizens, as the basis for its campaign.

“Today, the 11th of October 2026, we gathered here in Kano State in order to exercise our fundamental human rights and to associate freely in order to exchange ideas and educate ourselves on the need to send away the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Nigeria,” Hikima said.

He accused the police of preventing the group from exercising its civic rights, insisting that the meeting was planned to take place in an enclosed private venue and would be conducted peacefully.

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Hikima disclosed that Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Bakori, had called him the previous day and advised him to inform the police about the meeting.

According to him, he told the commissioner that the gathering would be peaceful and conducted within the law.

The lawyer argued that the group did not require police permission to hold the meeting, citing Sections 35, 39 and 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantee personal liberty, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

“We are not criminals, we are not thugs, we are not hooligans and we have not committed any offence. And there is nothing wrong with what we are doing right now,” he said.

Hikima also alleged that one of the officers told him the police had no objection to the meeting but that members should not wear the movement’s insignia. He insisted that wearing the branded clothing was part of their right to express their political views.

He said the group would return to organise further meetings and demonstrations, adding that a Court of Appeal decision supported its position on public gatherings.

Amid chants of “Tinubu Must Go,” Hikima vowed that the movement would not abandon its plans.

Efforts to obtain the police’s account of the incident were unsuccessful as the Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, neither answered calls nor responded to text and WhatsApp messages seeking clarification on why the venue was barricaded.

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