The lawyer to the protest organisers, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, in a statement on Friday, called for the suspension of the protest, saying it had been hijacked by hoodlums.
He appealed that the protest be stopped immediately to avoid more casualties.
While berating the President for not engaging the organisers at the earlier stage, Adegboruwa warned that no leader should ever take the citizens for granted again.
He said, “Notice of this protest was given many weeks ago, yet nothing was done to engage the organisers of the protests in order to address the issues raised in their charter of demands. It is the same way that the government ignores several strike notices issued by the Labour unions until they eventually snowball into strike actions. This should not be so.”
But reacting, an activist, Omoyele Sowore, said the call for suspension was Adegboruwa’s view and not that of the organisers.
He said, “No, he has made it clear that it is his private opinion. “
The Director of Mobilisation, Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, said the protest would be called off when their demands had been met.
He said, “We don’t agree. He doesn’t speak for us. The protest will be suspended when the government meet our demands. Anything short of that would not pack us out of the streets.”
Kano, Borno, Katsina, Yobe, Jigawa impose curfew
Following breakdown of law and order, at least five northern states – Kano, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and Jigawa – have declared curfew to restrict the movement of residents.
Following the outbreak of violence in Jigawa State on Thursday, Governor Umar Namadi imposed a 24-hour curfew.
The curfew was, however, relaxed on Friday for two and a half hours for Muslims to observe the Juma’at prayers. Namadi said the violent turn of the peaceful protests was unacceptable and vowed to prevent further chaos.
‘Police arrested 1,154 protesters, killed 21’
Meanwhile, the Organised Civil Society of Nigeria says according to data obtained through its Civil Society Protest Monitoring Situation Room, 21 persons had been killed, while 1,154 others were arrested by the police on the first day of the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests.
In a press release signed by the Head of the Coordinating Secretariat of the United Action Front of Civil Society, Olawale Okunniyi, on Friday, the group stated that 175 persons sustained injuries.
Okunniyi stated that 18 states, including Lagos, Yobe, Zamfara, Borno and the FCT recorded cases of police brutality and violence, while only eight states, namely Plateau, Taraba, Ebonyi, Edo, Benue, Nasarawa and Ogun, recorded peaceful protests.
The group said the data, received from field volunteers, revealed contrary realities to the assurances given by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, adding that the “reckless” show of force by the Police was “unacceptable.”
However, some of the official figures released by the police showed that more than 500 protesters were arrested in at least six states.
Out of the figure, 320 protesters were arrested in Kano, 18 in Yobe, 50 in Katsina, 81 in Sokoto, five in Abuja, and 25 in Kaduna, as confirmed by the police commands in the states.
Meanwhile, a coalition of lawyers has secured the release of 15 protesters arrested by the police in different parts of Lagos.
A member of the legal team, Festus Ogun, who confirmed this to “Apples Bite”, said two of the protesters were arrested on Thursday in the Oregun area of Lagos, while 12 were picked up around Lekki Toll Gate plaza on Friday.
Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, for the total number of suspects arrested proved abortive.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
