Falana to FG: Be honest with Nigerians, address arrest of alleged coup plotters

Falana

Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has asked the federal government to be open with Nigerians regarding reports of an alleged coup attempt in the country.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Wednesday, Falana said the government has yet to provide a clear response to reports of arrests linked to the alleged plot.

The senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) added that transparency would enable the government to gain public trust and support in the fight against anti-democratic elements.

“You know, a lot of conspiracy theories are going on, and as a lawyer, I can only speak of what I know that are within the public domain,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, the government is making more money on the sale of oil. Apart from removal of fuel subsidy, the government has also been able to increase oil production in our country.

“For the majority of our people, they remain economically disabled. And when people are planning a coup, they take advantage of mass anger in the land to strike.

“Government has said there was no attempt to coup. As far as I’m concerned, the government has to come up very soon, because it has not been able to dismiss reports of arrest of the alleged coup plotters.

“The government has to be more honest with Nigerians if this happened. If it was going to happen. The government must come up.”

Responding to suggestions that the matter was a sensitive security issue, Falana insisted that details of the arrests were already circulating publicly, confirming that the arrests had indeed occurred.

“No, arrests have been made. This is being reported. So at the time it was denied, the government was still trying to pick up, arrests have not been made. Information has leaked out,” he said.