Fresh #EndSARS protest: protesters adamant

 

Less than two months after the suspension of the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, the organisers and activists have ignored threats by the government and security agencies by organising fresh protests in some parts of the country.

However, soldiers and policemen were deployed in some of the venues to disrupt the protests on Monday, especially in Lagos.

A leading member of the #EndSARS movement, Raphael Adebayo, told the government to prepare for more protests by the coalition, because the demands of Nigerians had not been met.

The activist said the deployment of policemen and soldiers to prevent the protest from holding in Lagos would not discourage the campaigners.

Adebayo stated, “After massacring peaceful protesters in Lekki, General Buhari should know that deploying soldiers is the least of his worries. The issues that brought the youth out in the first place have not been addressed.

“The police have shown Nigerians that the state judicial panels are merely window-dressing the sufferings of the victims of police brutality. The government should prepare for more protests, because as far as the #EndSARS protesters are concerned, there is no alternative to justice.”

Another #EndSARS campaigner, Aisha Yesufu, lampooned the President for acting like a dictator, noting that he had failed to protect Nigerians and should be more concerned with that.

She also knocked Buhari for not addressing the nation against the backdrop of the killing of over 78 rice farmers by insurgents in Borno State.

“The President is a man who watches his people being killed and he does nothing. Seventy-eight farmers were killed and Buhari could not address the nation. Sadly, the head of the terrorist group has addressed the nation and that should concern Nigerians,” Yesufu stated.

The activist called for a medical evaluation of the President, stressing that he was not acting like a democratic leader.

She stated, “We need to check the mental capacity of President Muhammadu Buhari, because he is not acting like someone who is in full control of his mental faculties. We need to know if the doctrine of necessity needs to be activated and we get the President out, because he is not talking like somebody who knows he is in a democracy.

“He is probably retrogressive and thinks that this is 1984. The President needs to know that this is 2020 and Nigeria is under a democracy and that there is a constitution that allows citizens to protest.”

On whether the coalition planned to protest or not, Yesufu insisted that every Nigerian has the right to protest peacefully, arguing that the police had no authority to prevent peaceful protests.

She stated, “One of the things Nigerians must know is that whether the #EndSARS group or any group, they have the right to come out and protest peacefully and the Nigeria Police Force should know that its duty is to protect the protesters; it is not to stop anyone from protesting. The police should know that their allegiance is to the constitution and not to the government or the ruling party.”