Jonathan Nwokpor
Keep up with latest news and be part of our weekly giveaways and airtime sharing, follow our WhatsApp channel for more update. Click to Follow us
The organizers of the just concluded EndBadGovernance protest, which severely disrupted business activity across the country, are already preparing to hold additional protests in October.
Omoyele Sowore, a former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, gave ZINGTIE confirmation of the plan on Saturday.
According to ZINGTIE, youths in Nigeria organized statewide demonstrations against the country’s current economic state between August 1 and August 10.
Unfortunately, some protestors lost their lives as a result of non-state actors taking over the nonviolent rally, which was meant to go for ten days.
Reports state that after Nigerian security forces cracked down on the protestors, 17 people were allegedly killed in Abuja, Kano, Niger, Borno, Kaduna, and Jigawa, and numerous more were gravely injured.
Following the violence that broke out during the demonstration, 1,135 people were detained nationwide.
Hoodlums in Kano State are said to have plundered private property and damaged government property, including important documents. They posed as demonstrators.
A few of them were also observed carrying Russian flags and demanding military takeover of Nigeria.
Approximately 873 people were taken into custody by the police and other security services in Kano alone.
76 of them, including one foreigner who had been detained for flying Russian flags, were moved to Force Headquarters in Abuja on Monday of last week in order to face allegations of sedition under covert investigation.
An activist lawyer named Deji Adeyanju told ZINGTIE on Saturday that they were presently trying to secure the release of some of the protesters.
When asked about the fate of the protesters who were detained, the well-known activist only replied, “We are currently on their matter.”
Sowore did, however, confirm to ZINGTIE that while attempts were still underway to gain the freedom of others, several protesters had been released.
He said, “We are working to get all detained persons released and have, in fact, succeeded in getting some released.
“To this, we owe some gratitude to several human rights attorneys who have dedicated their time and resources to ensure these latest victims of rights abuses are released from unjust detention.
“The federal govt would soon face an ultimatum to release all arrested protesters if they continue to be reckless and intransigent.”
Planned October protest
It’s possible that the October protest is related to their accusations that President Bola Tinubu has not responded to their requests.
According to ZINGTIE, the EndBadGovernance protesters presented at least 15 requests, the main one being that the FG remove some of the policies that contributed to the high cost of living, such as the controversial fuel subsidy.
The protesters demanded of the government, among other things, that it “Toss the Senate arm, keep the House of Representatives and make lawmaking a part-time endeavour.
“Pay Nigerian workers a minimum wage of nothing less than N250,000 monthly.
“Release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and demilitarize the South East. All ENDSARS and political detainees must also be released and compensated.
“End banditry, terrorism and violent crimes. Reform security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations.
“Massive shake-ups in the Nigerian judiciary to remove cabals of corrupt generations of judges and judicial officers that continue denying citizens access to real justice.
“Diaspora voting”.
However, the organizers claim that President Tinubu did not address the demands during his speech to the nation on the sixth day of the protest.
The young people in Nigeria are now forced to hold more protests as a result.
Sowore informed ZINGTIE that the October demonstration, which received the hashtag #FearlessInOctober, will last longer than the August demonstration.
Regarding the purportedly ongoing discussion with the FG, Sowore declared, “I am not part of any negotiations. We are all working on our next set of prolonged protests tagged #fearlessinOctober”.
Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it.
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.
