CONSTITUTIONALITY OF PYTHON DANCE IN SOUTH EAST OF NIGERIA SEPTEMBER 2017 OR A DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY?

Abstract

It  is  a  notorious  fact,  Python  Dance  was  carried  out  in  the  South  Eastern  part  of  Nigeria  in September 2017. Abia State to be precise. Prior to this time the army informed the public via the media and stated that the President deployed the military under the powers conferred on him by section  218  of  the  1999  constitution  of  the  Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria  as  amended.  Under section  217  (2)  (c  )  by  the  very  wording  of  the  law,  the  President  and  the  National  Assembly evidently share conjunctive powers and responsibilities with regard to the deployment of soldiers to suppress insurrection and act in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so. Against this backdrop the President of Nigeria Mohammed Buhari deployed the army to at Abia  State. But the question that begs for an answer is “Was there an insurrection in Abia for the Army to quell? Which answer is negative .again was the President applying the “Doctrine of Necessity ? Which is not applicable in the situation because constitutionally the President can as the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Army  can  deploy  soldiers.  Why  then  was  the  Python  Dance carried out in Abia State which claimed the lives of thousands of people and mainly the youths. There have been cases of insurrections in Nigeriahow were they addressed or handled? It is an established  fact  that  the  indigenous  people  of  Biafra  (IPOB)  were  the  targeted  group  and consequently  many  of  them  were  killed  because  they  were  expressing  themselves  by  requesting for  a  referendum.  The  objective  of  this  therefore  will  be  to  address  the  following  questions: constitutionality  of  Python  Dance  the  Doctrine  of  Necessity,  Precedent  on  the  suppression  of insurrection  in  Nigeria,  Freedom  of  expression  in  other  jurisdictions.  The work  will  be concluded by stating  there was no need for the Python Dance in Abia State but rather a ploy to wrongly  kill  people.  It  is  therefore  recommended  among  other  things  that  life  is  sacred  and should be preserved and the President should always bear in mind that it is his responsibility to protect life and property of people under him.