Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) says the high level of poverty on the continent is responsible for the wave of coups in Africa.

He spoke at a Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) national symposium held in Abuja on Thursday.

Falana accused Nigeria’s ruling class of taking the people for granted. According to him, despite the poverty in the country, the National Assembly allocated billions to itself.

The theme of the symposium was “Nigerian Economy and the Crisis of Survival, Robbing the Poor to Pay the Rich”.

His comment comes on the heels of recent coups in Africa. The latest was in Gabon where soldiers seized power, ending decades of the Bongo dynasty’s reign.

The development has triggered condemnations from within and outside the continent.

President Bola Tinubu had described the wave of coups in Africa as a “contagious autocracy”.