Tag: protest

…asks protesters to call off protest 

The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) on Friday, August 2, advised protesters to allow peace to prevail, adding that civil unrest is not the solution to the current situation.

NIREC said the protest would further aggravate the already frail state of the nation, asking the protesters to call off the protest.

The co-chairman of NIREC, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar, and His Eminence, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who is also Co-chairman of NIREC expressed sadness over the peaceful protest that turned violent.

According to a statement jointly signed and issued on Friday, the duo said: “The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), under the leadership of His Eminence Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar CFR. mni, Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and His Eminence, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) observe with a heavy heart the happenings in the country at the moment.

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“The protest that commenced in a peaceful manner on Thursday, August 1, 2024, despite pleas from all quarters, took a turn for the worse and became violent later in the day. In just a few hours lives and property were lost due to this unfortunate scenario.

“It is without doubt that there is hunger and hardship in the country but civil unrest is not the solution as it would only further aggravate the already frail state of the nation. NIREC hereby calls on fellow citizens of Nigeria to please call off this protest and give the Government a chance to redeem itself.

“In just one day lives and enormous amounts of property have been destroyed. Imagine if this continues for a prolonged time, only God knows the extent of damage that would be incurred”.

The Council called on the security agencies to be more professional in the discharge of their duties.

NIREC urged the government to expedite action towards meeting the yearning and needs of the citizens.

The council said: “We need a peaceful and tranquil nation we can be proud to call our own. May God bless us all.”

Meanwhile, the director-general of the confederation of All Progressives Congress (APC) Support Groups, Prof Kailani Muhammad, has also appealed to the organizers to eschew bitterness and embrace dialogue with the government to address their demands.

He called on President Bola Tinubu’s government to urgently assemble a Think-Tank, comprising three members from each geopolitical zone, to aid in government policy formulation and implementation.

He suggested taking in 200 youths from the 36 states and the FCT for skill acquisition training programs.

Kailani, at a press conference, stated that he would not relentlessly enlighten the nation, especially the youth, about the dangers inherent in the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protest.

He said: “I am passionately appealing to our Nigerian youth to eschew bitterness and embrace dialogue with the government on all areas of concern.

“There is no doubt that hunger is prevalent in the land. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is aware of these challenges and, as a listening father to all, has begun revisiting some policies and taking steps to reverse the trend.

“He has swiftly dispatched 20 trailers of 25 kg rice to each of the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

“Our youth must not allow disgruntled elements to deceive them into taking actions harmful to Nigeria’s progress.”

The DG also said there is a video circulating in Nigeria that incites the populace about the credibility of the 2027 general elections, despite it being far off.

He urged youths not to be misled by unscrupulous individuals into violence and property destruction for the sake of a few self-centered people.

Instead, he encouraged the youth to positively engage the Bola Tinubu government to address issues amicably, so they can reap the benefits of the president’s long-term plans.

Speaking further, Kailani said the APC support group is pleased that the Federal Government has authorized the allocation of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery.

“However, this gesture should be managed efficiently and with sincerity to benefit Nigerians. We witnessed how Dangote Flour Mills skyrocketed prices due to a monopoly.”

The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) on Friday, August 2, confined protesters to the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja after chasing them from Berger junction.

The police blocked major roads leading to the MKO Abiola Stadium in the FCT in an attempt to prevent the peaceful protesters from marching towards different parts of Abuja.

The development is for the protesters to adhere to the court orders restricting the demonstrators to the stadium.

With this action, the protesters became furious and agitated, demanding to know why they must be restricted.

Similarly, many protesters at MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja are getting agitated over police insistence that they must not leave the venue to another part of the city to protest.

Read Also: VIDEO: Protesters scramble for sausage rolls, water at Ojota

The police’s refusal to allow the protesters to march beyond the stadium has led to several altercations between them and the police officers.

Consequently, the protesters have been blocking vehicles along highways around the stadium.

The police could also be seen stationed on the road, with their vehicles blocking the path the protesters might want to cross from the stadium into the city.

Military officers and policemen were spotted with heavy equipment at the stadium, to maintain any breakdown of law and order.

Details shortly…

…calls for affordable fuel, electricity, food prices

As the national protest against hunger and bad governance enters its second day, the Civil Society Organization on Community Advancement and Humanitarian Empowerment Initiative (CSCHEI) has advised protesters to engage in dialogue with the Federal Government to resolve contentious issues.

CSCHEI also urged the government to make electricity tariffs, fuel prices, and food costs affordable for the common people.

The organization’s Director-General, Hon. Kunle Yusuf, emphasized the need for immediate reforms in these areas to address the concerns of the masses and the high cost of living.

Yusuf cautioned protesters against violence, promoting peaceful and constructive dialogue to achieve their goals.

CSCHEI, an accredited platform for coordinating NGOs, CBOs, and FBOs, seeks to promote socio-economic development, community enhancement, and humanitarian empowerment in Nigeria.

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“The present circumstances in Nigeria have demanded that the federal government should as a matter of urgency start the processes of reforms that will accelerate development for Nigerians to quickly begin to enjoy dividends of democracy the federal government should consider

“Declaration of Emergency on Basic Health and Agricultural sectors. Once food is affordable for Nigerians to feed their families and they have access to basic healthcare, the social apathy will decline drastically.

“Review Housing and Retirement Policies. When you are sure that at your retirement age, you can have an affordable house to accommodate your family and a functional pension scheme is in place, certainly, this will further drag financial corruption to the barest minimum.

“Provide electricity and reaffirm hope for self-employed Nigerians. Electricity, fuel and diesel are the immediate commodities that bind the Nigerian masses together. Once there is energy sufficiency at reasonable rates for artisans to deploy their skills into productive activities, there will be a drastic reduction in pressure on social fault lines.

“The communications desk and community engagements unit in Mr President’s office should upscale performance on their duties and adopt work synergy among MDAs, and the appointees, to avoid administrative arrogance and conflict that may hinder the acceleration of the eight-point Agenda of this administration.”

CSCHEI also appealed to Nigerians to embrace what he described as, “Process Reforms, not Commotion Protest”.

He explained that the country’s present economic stability is not resilient enough to withstand national strikes or prolong public protests.

“It’s on this note that CSCHEI appeals to leadership of CSOs, CBOs, NGOs, Youths, Students, and all other critical stakeholders to embrace negotiations and give the government more chance for most of their intervention to mature,” the group said.

It further said: “Meanwhile, it is imperative that government escalates actions with the appropriate quantum of intervention in order to diffuse the social fault lines to avoid aggravating the masses into further agitation which always has the propensity to lead to social anarchy.

“We also want to use this opportunity to appeal to the state governors and local government council authorities to always give accurate information for the masses to know the interventions coming from the federal government. At this point appropriate dissemination of information is necessary.

“CSCHEI has set up a committee to go into action on public enlightenment, advocacy against extremism and radicalisation and friendly community engagement with the community leaders, religious leaders, civil society organizations, and community-based organizations to reduce the atmosphere of tension in the land.

“In addition, we also understand that national development is a collective responsibility where everybody is a concrete stakeholder. Therefore patriotism should be adopted at all levels of leadership – both community and religious.

“Again, the Director General has directed that at least 20 CSOs, NGOs, and CBOs in each state capital to start social engagement on emotional intelligence to moderate the sensibilities of people and sensitivity to the issues at stake”, he said.

VIDEO: Protesters scramble for sausage rolls, water at Ojota, Lagos pic.twitter.com/pVJLR0GYKT

— The Nation Nigeria (@TheNationNews) August 2, 2024

Groups in Adamawa state opposing the nationwide hardship protest have called on the leaders and sponsors of the protest to personally lead it.

Members of the groups trooped out on the second day of the protest, Friday, August 2, in solidarity rallies expressing support for President Bola Tinubu instead of protesting against him.

They carried placards accusing the protest leaders and financiers of selfishness and insincerity for directing the protest from behind the scenes.

One of the placards read: “Let those pushing for a forceful change of government lead the procession with their children.”

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The pro-Tinubu groups who insisted that President Tinubu has done enough good for Nigeria to be encouraged to continue as a president, also stated in one of their placards that it should be Tinubu as Nigeria’s president to 2031.

At the Police Roundabout starting point of their solidarity rally, a spokesman of the pro-Tinubu groups, Abali Paul, said: “We came out once again today to encourage Nigerians to keep the peace and to tell the state and the federal government that although they have indeed implemented programmes that benefit the people, issues remain. They should be quick in tackling the hunger and other issues that people are facing.”

Also taking off their day’s protest at the Police Roundabout in Yola in the later hours of Friday morning were groups outrightly criticizing the Tinubu administration and asking him to either act fast or reverse the hardship that Nigerians currently face or step down.

They displayed placards with the inscriptions reading, “Tinubu must go’, ‘Mr President, Step down’, ‘We want food price control with immediate effect’, among others

A spokesman of the anti-government groups, Malam Abdullahi Abdallah, said to newsmen, “We are protesting because we want the government to know that we are suffering, we are hungry, we face insecurity. We want the government to know that we need fuel subsidy back and we want to be safe to live and to do our work. We want the subsidy back. We want to live as happy people.”

Relative peace has partially returned to Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, as business and commercial activities in part of the ancient city partially resumed on the second day of the ongoing nationwide protest.

Despite the initial fears of violence and disruption, the city has remained calm, with protesters conducting themselves peacefully.

Some markets, shops, and other businesses that were closed on the first day of the protest have reopened, with some traders and customers going about their daily activities.

Transportation services have also partially resumed, with vehicles plying the roads and commuters going about their daily journeys.

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The protesters, who are demanding good governance, economic development, and an end to corruption, have been marching through major streets in the city, chanting slogans and waving placards.

However, the protesters have avoided disrupting business and commercial activities, instead focusing on spreading their message and rallying support from the public.

The police and other security agencies have also been visible, providing security and ensuring that the protests remain peaceful.

Some residents who initially stayed indoors due to fear of violence have also begun to come out, going about their daily activities with a sense of relief.

The relative peace in Ibadan is in contrast to some other cities, where the protests have turned violent, resulting in clashes between protesters and security agencies.

The peaceful conduct of the protests in Ibadan has been commended by residents and stakeholders, who hope that the government will listen to the demands of the protesters and take urgent steps to address their grievances.