THERE were some mild dramas at the police designated protest ground in Lagos State as the nationwide protest kicked-off on Thursday, August 1.
The Lagos State Government had on July 30 secured a court order restricting protesters to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and Peace Park in Ketu.
At the kick-off of the protest in the early hours on Thursday, protesters gradually gathered beside the Gani Fawehinmi Park as the protest built momentum amid heavily armed security operatives.
The personnel include the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Police Force who manned the venue of the two parks with their federal might.
There was also the heavy presence of the Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC) and other security outfits who were supposedly at the venue of the protest to maintain peace.
The youth-led nationwide protest had been planned for August 1 to 10 across the states as aggrieved Nigerians march to the streets in frustration against economic hardships and bad government ravaging the nation.
At the Gani Fawehinmi Park, a pocket of arguments almost turned the protest into a scene of violence as witnessed in some parts of the country.
The ICIR covered day one of the protests at the Gani Fawehinmi Park and reports a few of the scenes that almost scuttled the protest.
Area boys put up resistance
A group supporting the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and sympathisers of President Bola Tinubu-led administration initially attempted to stop the protesters who were civil in their conduct.
According to the supposedly “area boys” group, Tinubu has done nothing wrong and the non-Yoruba elements whom they claimed were championing the protest should go to their various states to protest, not in Lagos.
Azeez Omoniyiwa, who claimed to be a politician and phone dealer at the popular Computer Village, repeatedly kicked against the protest.
“We don’t want any form of violence. Let us be patient with Tinubu. Give him more time. He is just there for only a year.
“Even during the Emefiele and Buhari regime, they brought in the new note policy. Did you know the hardships on the land then?, he said.
Security operatives resist protesters
At the point when the security operatives were asking the protesters to move inside the Gani Fawehinmi Park and the latter resisted for fear of being caged in, it took the presence of the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Adegoke Fayoade, to douse the tension already building up.
“Don’t turn the protest to violence. You can be rest assured 100 per cent, nobody will be molested. We will provide adequate safety and security for you and that is why we are here,” said the police commissioner.
Protesters’ demands
“We want Tinubu to secure the North and ensure that farmers can go back to the farm to drive down the cost of food because it is the key to food security in the nation.
“It is important that we fix the economy, electoral and educational systems,” a protester and legal practitioner, Joseph Amadi, said.
He said the government needed to restore and boost the manufacturing sector so that the country could become an exporting nation and less dependent on imports.
Amadi said Nigerians needed a mandatory amendment of the Electoral Act to ensure mandatory transmission of election results from the polling units to the IRvF portal.
He noted that businesses and the economy, in general, were crumbling because of the continued epileptic electricity supply in the country while the leaders feed fat at the expense of the masses.
Another protester, Lami Kolus, she said she wanted the country’s leaders to do their jobs and take care of the insecurity in the nation.
She equally called on the government to end prevailing hardship.
“Our problem is not to give us palliatives. Make the economy stable. “If it is not done, we remain on the streets,” Kolus added.
The protest at the Gani Fawehinmi Park was conducted on Thursday without a central leader as the protesters resorted to continuing the protest on Friday, August 2.
However, there were pockets of slight violence in other parts of Lagos State like in the Lekki tollgate where the police reportedly dispersed protesters with teargas canisters.
Business activities
In the Nigerian commercial capital, business activities were slightly going on around the vicinity of the protest ground. The Ojota motor park was opened and transporters were beckoning commuters to board vehicles to their respective destinations.
There was an unhindered movement of the Lagos’ yellow commercial buses and people were moving freely on the streets. However, fuel stations were under lock and key as well as other corporate businesses.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Wednesday, July 31, had reflected that the tragic events of the EndSARS protest in 2020 should not be repeated in the state.
He noted that the EndSARS protest initially began peacefully but was later hijacked and resulted in monumental destruction and losses, including lives.
“To ensure safe and peaceful expression, the police have designated Gani Fawehinmi Park and Peace Park for protests. These locations will be secured to protect our citizens and prevent chaos,” the governor said.