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Despite Tinubu’s broadcast, Lagos protesters may march to Alausa Monday

THE ongoing protests against hunger and bad government might take a new turn in Lagos State as the protesters planned to march from the Gani Fawehinmi Park to Alausa in Ikeja on Monday, August 5.

This comes as President Bola Tinubu addressed Nigerians on Sunday insisting there was no going back on oil subsidy removal.

The decision to proceed to Alausa was jointly taken by the organisers and protesters on Saturday, August 3.

Their decision to take the demonstration beyond the police designated protest ground at the Gani Fawehinmi Park could be a sign of a shift in momentum in the hunger protest in Lagos.

On Thursday, August 1, Nigerian youths commenced a 10 days nationwide protest which entered its fourth  day on Sunday.

In Lagos, the protest has relatively been peaceful as the security operatives restricted the protesters to the  Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota.

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At the protest ground on Saturday, the youth-led struggle gained momentum and  more crowd than the number seen on the previous days.

The growing number of the protesters and their determination not to be cowed, it was gathered, led to the decision to take the struggle further on Monday and march to the Lagos State secretariat in Alausa.

Ahead of the Monday’s march, the organisers would share about 10,000 flyers to various communities in the state to mobilise more people to join the protest.

Since August 1 when the protest started, pockets of resistance by the heavily armed security operatives have been witnessed, preventing the protesters from marching beyond some spots along the Gani Fawehinmi Park.

Despite the resistance, the protesters have been civil and the Lagos protest peaceful relative to reports from other states where security operatives reportedly released teargas and even gunshots on armless protesters  exercising their fundamental  rights and on journalists reporting the happenings.

In an interview with The ICIR, Seyi Akinde, a member of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), one of the groups organising the protest, said the protesters want President Bola Tinubu to meet the demands of the people.

According to him, the demands of Nigerians are clear, stressing that Nigerians are hungry, dying, and cannot afford to eat square meal any more as a result of the anti-peoples’ decisions the government has taken.

He noted that the removal of subsidy created an economic stagnation which has resulted in maximum hardship for the masses.

“While the leaders are living fat lives, the masses are living in austerity,” Akinde lamented, maintaining that the leader should make the bigger sacrifices.

“We are part of the organisers of this protest which is currently happening across Nigeria.

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“Hunger and starvation need to end in Nigeria. We find ourselves in a very unfortunate situation simply because of the decisions of government,” he said.

The protesters demand that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration reverses the decisions he took when he came into office so that Nigerians can breathe, Akinde submitted.

Lagos Police raise concerns

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Adegoke Fayoade, on Saturday at the protest ground expressed worries that hoodlums might hijack the peaceful protest.

“We should not allow the protest to be violent. We should not allow hoodlums to infiltrate the camp of the protesters and turn it into a violent situation because once that happens, you will see looting all over the place.

“Innocent market women and men on the street would be robbed of their valuables, motorists and passengers would be robbed of their valuables, vehicles would be smashed and damaged, and lives to be lost,” the CP said.

The youth-led protest might likely continue after the planned 10-day demonstration should the President fails to meet demands of the people.

The ICIR reports that despite President Tinubu’s broadcast on Sunday, the protesters say he failed to address their demands. 

Shortly after the president’s address, a group of protesters gathered around the Gani Fawehinmi Park on Sunday morning, chanting solidarity songs.

They insist the President has not addressed core issues raised by them despite touching on efforts by his administration.

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