The Nation Newspaper

Tag: protest

  • Protest will hold as planned, NLC insists

    Protest will hold as planned, NLC insists

    The Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) has insisted that it will go ahead with its plan to protest the “mounting hunger and insecurity” in the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Its President, Joe Ajaero, who said this in a statement on Sunday, accused the Federal Government of allegedly trying to use an amorphous group, Nigeria Civil Society Forum (NCSF) to attack its members during the rallies.

    The Labour leader said there would be a total shutdown of the country through the withdrawal of services by workers if any of its members were attacked during the protest. 

    The Department of State Services has warned that the protest may be hijacked by “some elements.”

    The Federal Government through the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) has also warned Labour that embarking on the rallies would be contempt of court.

    However, Ajaero called on the “international human rights body and the governments of the African Union and the United Nations that the right of the people to peacefully protest and demand for freedom from economic slavery and hardship was being threatened by the Nigerian State.”

    The statement reads: “We would want to inform Nigerians that the State has perfected plans to attack our peaceful rallies across the country.

    “One of the groups being primed to attack our peaceful rallies is by a nebulous name, Nigeria Civil Society Forum (NCSF).

    “NCSF is one of the emergency groups put together, funded, promoted and remote-controlled by the government to cause violence against our members for electing to peacefully protest against hunger in the land.

    “We would want the State to know that the solution to our horrible economic situation and hunger is not by suppressing peaceful dissent or inflicting violence on peacefully protesting citizens as the government did in Minna and other cities where its agents tear-gassed and beat up women before locking them up for raising their voice against hunger. It does not lie in the deployment of State -sponsored terror. The pangs of hunger cannot be cowed by bullets or tear gas.

    “In light of this, we at the Nigeria Labour Congress and civil society allies are moving ahead with our protest rallies against economic hardship and insecurity in line with the decision of the National Executive Council.

    “As citizens, we have a fundamental right to peaceful protest and history bears us witness that our protests are always peaceful except in instances of state-engineered violence.

    “In light of this, we advise the State to put on its thinking cap and find solutions to the pains it continues to cause the people instead of further dehumanising them.

    “However, if it is irrevocably set on the path of violence against us and other peace-loving Nigerians, it will be making a costly mistake because if we are attacked there will be a total shutdown via withdrawal of services by workers. Let no one be deceived, we and other deprived Nigerians cannot easily be intimidated. 

    “Lest those in power now who may have forgotten be reminded, we faced a more resourceful and resilient adversary in order to have democracy. All we are saying now is that; let there be food for the people, _let the people live in safety, let the people live a life of dignity devoid of suffocating IMF/World Bank economic policies.

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    “Once again we advise those waiting in the wings to unleash violence on us that this is not about the NLC but about Nigerians who are saying “enough is enough”, about a people who have resolved not to be further pushed into the pit of misery and hopelessness, while a few live in obscene luxury at our collective expense.

    “We are by this statement calling the attention of the international human rights body and the governments of the African Union and the United Nations that the right of the people to peacefully protest and demand for freedom from economic slavery and hardship is being threatened by the Nigerian State.

    “We however remain resolute, determined and prepared to express our pain and grief in a peaceful manner as Nigerians come 27th and 28th of February 2024.”

  • Activists: shun protest over hardship

    Activists: shun protest over hardship

    Coalition of Pro-Democracy Groups for A Better Nigeria (Coalition of June 12 Activists), has urged  Nigerians not to take protest against the economic hardship.

    The coalition was reacting to calls by some groups  to Nigerians home and abroad to protest hardship in the country.

    National Coordinator, Awa Bamiji, praised President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who asked groups and Nigerians from Southeast not to protest.

    He said : “We are directing that no pro – democracy group or community in Nigeria or diaspora should protest against this government.

    “We are studying situation of things and we have asked those who made entreaties to us to tell us what their position was before the administration. They were all in opposition parties.

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    “We have asked what they did to demonstrate patriotism after the election because election is not “do or die”, we must embrace sportsmanship at every election.”

    He noted that a meeting of top economists and war  experts, home and abroad,  will strategise on how to overcome hardship and challenges.

    Bamiji said they would advise President Bola Tinubu on economy and security, adding civil societies will continue to support the President.

    “Just like Igbo, civil societies worldwide are opposed to military rule and prefer a democratic government.

    “We are calling on youths to come with ideas on how to fix this country with Mr. President in the areas of security and economy… ‘‘

  • PHOTOS: Protest hits Ibadan over high cost of living

    PHOTOS: Protest hits Ibadan over high cost of living

    Angry youths in Oyo State are protesting the high cost of living, food inflation and the current economic hardship in the country.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Protest hits Ibadan over high cost of living

    SOURCE: Channels TV

  • By-election: Protest rocks APC primary in Ondo

    By-election: Protest rocks APC primary in Ondo

    Eight All Progressives Congress aspirants eyeing to occupy the Akoko NorthEast/NorthWest Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives have protested the outcome of the party primary over the allegation of doctored delegates’ list.

    The seat became vacant after Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo was appointed Minister of Interior by President Bola Tinubu.

    Aspirants who contested the primary were Chief Olugbenga Araoyinbo, Messrs Makinde, Olarewaju Kazeem, Owolabi, Lasisi Olanipekun, Haruna Adesina, Charles Babalola, and Ife Ehindero.

    There was a heavy security presence at Victory College, Ikare-Akoko venue of the primary election.

    Some of the protesting aspirants said the delegates were surprised to discover that the displayed list was filled with strange names contrary to the collated names from the ward levels.

    One of the aspirants and former Majority Leader in the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olugbenga Araoyinbo, raised the alarm on the development and called on the party leadership to ensure the injustice perpetrated did not hold.

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    Araoyinbo said the electoral guidelines did not allow an individual to singlehandedly compile and submit delegates list.

    He was later arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force.

    But the Chairman of the APC Election Committee, Alhaji Abubakar Nasir, said he was working in consonance with the party’s highlighted guidelines.

    Despite the protests and agitation, Alhaji Nasir declared Ife Ehindero as the winner of the primary after polling 105 votes.

    A total of 106 delegates were accredited to vote at the primary.

  • Protesting workers block entrance to Abuja airport

    Protesting workers block entrance to Abuja airport

    Many top government officials, their armed escorts, business guests and hundreds of other Nigerians have been prevented from entering the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.

    As of 9.15 am when The Nation approached the vicinity of the Airport, scores of vehicles carrying stranded air passengers remained without room to manoeuvre over a distance of about four kilometres to the airport gate.

    Read Also: PHOTOS: Many stranded as NLC locks down Abuja airport

    “NLC people are protesting, they have blocked the entrance and there is no way of moving forward at all,” a police escort who was in a Hilux pickup vehicle that turned backwards after being unable to press towards the gate, said.

    Details Shortly…

  • Residents protest deplorable state of Benin-Agbor road

    Residents protest deplorable state of Benin-Agbor road

    Residents of Ohovbe community in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo on Thursday in their numbers, grounded commercial activities along Benin-Agbor expressway while protesting deplorable state of the road.

    The protesters turned the protest to a carnival as they slaughtered a cow and cooked the meat on the road.

    Youths in the locality also turned the expressway to a football field, blocking the entire road.

    The protest, which started on Wednesday, grew stronger on Thursday, disrupting the community’s market day, thereby forcing residents of the area to trek  long distances to their destinations, and leaving other travelers stranded.

    Mr. Omuobi Abuegwu, an articulated vehicle driver who left Lagos enroute Onitsha but became stuck at the middle of the protest in Benin, said he was not even sure of when he would leave the log jam created by the protest.

    “I have been here since 9 a.m. since yesterday. I have not even moved an inch. The residents are protesting against the bad road.

    “As I speak, I have not eaten since. I am coming from Lagos and I am going to Onitsha,” Abuegwu said.

    A resident of the area, Solomon Nnamdi, warned that the government was pushing the people of the state to the limits of their endurance.

    “It has been a very long time the people have been complaining. They are pushing the people to their limit. So, we are saying that the government should wake up.

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    “There is money in our country and there is money in the state. Edo State is an oil producing state. Apart from that, the IGR can do a lot of things in the state to reduce the sufferings of the people.

    “This road condition is affecting food prices in the market. You can see trucks parked here for days. I just saw one Hausa man sleeping under his truck.

    “if such a person has food stuffs which he is going to deliver to another state, the goods will unfortunately perish before he gets to his destination.

    Mr Figo Tete, who acted as a referee during a football match on the major road, also said they would remain on the road until the state and federal governments rehabilitated the roads in the state.

    (NAN)

  • ‘We won’t protest federal appointments’

    ‘We won’t protest federal appointments’

    • By Joshua Uche

    A support group for All Progressives Congress (APC) victory in the 2023 presidential election, Team Prosper, yesterday, distanced itself from a proposed rally to criticise President Bola Tinubu’s appointments.

    The group, in a statement, said it would not be a partaker, adding its committee of national coordinators frowned at any group planning to protest.

     The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to this supposed rally to protest appointments and decisions of our President Bola Tinubu, in continuation of the Renewed Hope agenda. 

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     “The committee of national coordinators have decided that Team Prosper will not be part of this misadventure.

     “The task of nation building is a process which requires diligence and steady hands. We note the cacophonous sounds of discord being served by the opposition and determination to cause chaos in the land. Putting undue pressure by way of public protests and rallies isn’t the best way forward.

    “We will continue to dialogue with the President and his team. Our fathers of this team have constant access to the top members of this administration and are working to ensure our inclusion at the appropriate time.”

  • Protest rocks Osun govt secretariat over planned imposition of monarch 

    Protest rocks Osun govt secretariat over planned imposition of monarch 

    The indigenes of Ifon community, headquarters of Orolu Local Government of Osun State, yesterday stormed the State Secretariat, Abere to protest the planned imposition of a monarch on the community. 

    The protesters marched to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs with placards bearing inscriptions such as: “Don’t impose Moronfolu Ruling House on Us’, ‘Olufon stool is not for sale’, ‘Don’t impose on us’, ‘Governor Adeleke, allow us to decide our king’, and others. 

    They alleged that the government and some of its officials were planning to use outlawed Chieftaincy Declarations to appoint a new king, contrary to 1979 Declarations that had been used to select kings in the past. 

    Addressing the protesters, Prince Adegboyega Oyedeji from Odunolu Ruling House said: “The government acted on a declaration that had been outlawed by Justice Olowoofeku in suit number HOS/127/88, which the judgment never appealed till today.

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    “We are here to draw the attention of the peace-loving governor of the state, Ademola Adeleke and other stakeholders to the evil being perpetrated by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matter through the collaboration of the permanent secretary and some officials from the Ministry of Justice because the last administration of ex-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola wrote us (Odunolu) to produce the next king based on the 1979 Chieftaincy Declaration. 

    “Unfortunately, the Moronfolu Ruling House challenged it in court that we should use the outlawed declaration and the matter is in court till now. Amid the court tussle, Osun State Government has written the same ruling house that challenged us in court. Government should allow court to decide before acting.” 

    Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, reacting to the protest, said: “The letter issued was based on the information that they have settled out of court, but they should file a formal petition and I am sure they will get justice.” 

  • Protest: ‘Gang up against energy chief will fail’

    Protest: ‘Gang up against energy chief will fail’

    EX-militant leader, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro, has condemned the protest at the Utako, Abuja, office of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) by some workers of Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commision (NURPC).

       He described the protesters as “mischief makers”.

     Akpodoro, in a news conference yesterday in Abuja, said no amount of conspiracy can unseat Gbenga Komolafe,  chief executive officer of NURPC.

     He noted Komolafe has shown expertise since his appointment, alleging the gang up against him is by those who see Komolafe as threat.

     Akpodoro, also mayor of Urhoboland in Delta State, said the protesters planned to embarrass a man he described as a top notch in the management of petroleum industry. 

    He noted “the focus of the protest, sponsored by senior officials of NNPCL, is to get rid of Komolafe to pave the way for themselves to perpetuate looting which he has been frustrating since his appointment.’

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    Komolafe, Akpodoro said, has put in innovative ideas to the management of that segment of the industry, a development he noted is making top officials jittery as it will no longer be business as usual.

     “Those behind the protests are known and at the right time, youths of Niger Delta will go after those enemies of progress. Komolafe has been a blessing to NNPCL.

     “While Komolafe aims higher, his detractors are chasing shadows thinking they can unseat a man who God has placed. We are behind him and nobody can intimidate, blackmail, villify or threaten him with industrial action. If those inciting protests, damaging lies and rumours against Komolafe do not desist, we shall name and shame them.” he said.

     Akpodoro called on the management to ensure no evil befalls the NURPC chief, saying NNPCL has the responsibility of stabilising the economy, particularly the energy crisis bedevilling the nation. rather than allowing protests targeting an individual in a clear case of blackmail.

  • Guinea declare operation beat Nigeria as Eagles continue pay protest

     

    Protest and disagreement over money appears to have become a recurring decimal in the relationship between the national teams and the Amaju Pinnick led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

    Just few days after Super Falcons refused to leave their hotel in France insisting on getting their allowances before checking out, Super Eagles currently campaigning at the Nations cup in Egypt have joined the band wagon.

    The Eagles who are billed to take on Guinea in their second group match on

    Wednesday flagged off massive protest on Tuesday, shunning training and boycotting press briefing ahead of tomorrow’s match.

    Information emanating from the team’s camp indicates that the players were not ready to listen to the sugar coated promises often given by Glass House officials insisting on pay before service.

    Some of the players Sportinglife gathered described the Glass House as specialists in promise and fail, adding that in as much as it is good to be patriotic a labourer still deserves his wages.

    They accused the officials of taking their welfare with levity just because they listen to their sweet nothings while resisting the temptation to portray the country in a bad light.

    “There is time for everything we cannot just continue this way promises will be made they will not be kept, “some of the players were quoted as saying.

    Ahmed Musa who was billed to show for the pre-match conference failed to turn up forcing Coach Rohr to go alone for the briefing. Media men did not fail to query the coach over why the players were not represented at the conference, to   which he confessed that they stayed back in solidarity for what he dubbed a crucial player’s meeting.

    Eagles managed to earn a lone goal victory over Burundi, raising fears that it may not be a smooth sail for the team despite having two debutants in the group. Going into the next match against Guinea with so much protest in camp some say is an indication that the team may lose the match due to loss of concentration

    Recall that even the Under 20 side also protested in Poland refusing to leave their hotel until they are paid.

    Ironically while the Eagles are protesting, fillers from Guinea camp indicate that the players have vowed to rattle Eagles who currently lead the group with three points.