PROTESTERS under the theme #EndBadGovernance across the country have vowed to continue protesting until President Bola Tinubu meets their demands.
They demanded that the president take the appropriate action so the protests could be promptly called off.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday,August 1, the Director of Mobilisation, ‘Take It Back Movement’, Damilare Adenola, complained that the hardship under Tinubu’s reign had been too unbearable.
He added that the various court orders restricting protesters to particular locations were an aberration.
“Today, we have risen. We say to the President that unless he accedes to our demands, we will remain on the streets. We want to see the President on the street. During the previous protest, he was on the street.”
Another member of the ‘Take It Back Movement’, Ayoola Babalola, disclosed that the show of force by security agencies around the Moshood Abiola Stadium, a venue for the protest, was a shame for the country.
Similarly, in a chat with The ICIR in Abuja on Thursday, the spokesperson of the group, Abiodun Sanusi, described a letter in circulation that the protest had been postponed as fake.
“That’s false, it’s government propaganda, it didn’t emanate from us. The government has paid several social media influencers, media houses and CSOs, religious leaders and traditional leaders to discredit the protest.
The ICIR reported that tension rose in Abuja between #EndBadGovernance protesters and pro-government demonstrators at the MKO Abiola Stadium.
The ICIR earlier reported how a Federal High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) directed the #EndBadGovernance protesters to use only the stadium for their protest until the end of the exercise.
But another group of protesters supporting the government arrived at the stadium at 9.30 on August 1, in 12 coastal buses.
Nigerians protesting against high-level hunger and inflation in the country gathered at the stadium Thursday morning in compliance with the FCT High Court order.
But sooner had they arrived at the venue than pro-government protesters arrived in four coaster buses.
Earlier, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Benneth Igweh who was at the venue appealed to the #EndBadGovernance protesters to move into the stadium for their protest.
This led to a heated argument between the CP and the leader of the protesters, Deji Adeyanju.
Since Tinubu emerged on May 29, 2023, there has been unprecedented inflation, with the market prices of food snowballing and more citizens pushed into poverty.
A reporter with the ICIR
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