- Hunger protests: Protesters defy pleas, continue demonstrations in Lagos, Port Harcourt
After two days of demonstrations across the country, protesters have again gathered in Lagos and Port Harcourt in Nigeria’s coastal state of Rivers as they continue to push for their demands.
The demonstrations which began on August 1 in several cities are to draw attention to the challenges facing Nigerians with inflation figures reaching 34 per cent, making the cost of basic items beyond the reach of millions of households, reports Channels TV.
Although authorities including religious bodies/leaders had appealed to the demonstrators to shelve their protests after two days, as early as 8:00 am (WAT), placard-wielding youths hit the streets in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
In Lagos, the protesters were gathered at the Ojota end of the state. While only a sprinkle of them were around in the early hours of the day, the number of protesters is swelling up as the clock ticks.
They had placards with different inscriptions to shore up momentum for their demands which included the reversal of the fuel subsidy removal among others.
The protesters who chanted different songs lamented the insensitivity of authorities to the plight of the ordinary Nigerian especially in the wake of the devaluation which has seen the value of the naira slump to a historic low.
Police officers were on the ground at the rally venue to ensure a hitch-free procession. As the protesters continue their rally, economic activities are also in full swing.
Lagos’ situation is not different from that of Port Harcourt. The protesters converged at the Pleasure Park in the state capital. Other parts of the city are largely quiet but the protest venue is becoming a beehive of activities as the demonstrations gather steam.
Some of them were spotted waving the Nigerian flag, insisting on not backing down from the protests despite calls for them to return home. Officers of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Rivers State Police Command dressed in red headgear were at that venue in what could be described as a show of force.
Looting, Curfews, Arrests
As of now, there are no signs of the protests holding in other parts of Nigeria. The first two days of the rallies were mostly peaceful, cutting across the northern and southern parts of Africa’s most populous nation.
But there were flashes of violence, lootings, and clashes between security operatives and some protesters. Some states like Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yobe, Jigawa, Yobe, and Nasarawa saw some hoodlums hijacking the process and destroying infrastructure and looting properties.
The governments in these states had imposed curfews to rein in the violence. Police authorities in the wake of the ensuing violence arrested some suspects. But business activities are expected to fully pick up in the coming days.
Backdown Plea, Army’s Promise
Plea for the protesters to back down on the demonstrations have continued both from political, religious leaders and even security agencies. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) the Sultan of Sokoto and the President of Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Muhammad Sa’adu Abubakar III have all joined the calls for the protesters to leave the streets.
“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,” they said in a joint statement issued on Friday.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Ebun-Oluwa Adegboruwa also asked the protesters to “withdraw themselves from their various protest grounds and to suspend the protests immediately and indefinitely, to give room for meaningful dialogue and engagement with the government”.
“Given that the protests were said to have been hijacked by sponsored agents, it is necessary to avoid further losses and casualties. The organisers of the protests and their representatives should embrace dialogue with the government,” he said.
The Army has also condemned the lootings and violence that greeted the protests but appealed to protesters to shun destruction.
“So, we want to call on all Nigerians to understand the government. If you have grievances, which I know people have, a lot of challenges here and there, and it is not only in Nigeria alone; everywhere in the world is facing one economic or security crisis or the other. And so, it is important to understand that we are not alone,” the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa said in a Friday briefing.
“But what we can do is not allow criminals and individuals that have lost out to take advantage of this to destroy our country. We should realise that these destructions, monies have to be used to replace them so that we can move forward.”
‘Protests Continue’
While Adegboruwa represented a non-governmental organisation Take It Back Movement one of the protest organisers, the group has said there is no going back on the rallies.
“Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa is not our lawyer and he doesn’t speak for us. He might have presented himself as the solicitor but he is not hungry. He is a senior advocate of Nigeria who lives well. He is not hungry like the people taking over the streets,” the group’s Director of Mobilisation Damilare Adenola insisted.
“We are waiting for the government to respond to us and address our demands. And until then, the protests continue,” he said.
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Source: The Frontier online newspaper
