Young Nigerians plan mass protests but the govt moves to suppress it

Young Nigerians are planning nationwide protests from 1 August to demand economic and political reforms, but the government is using all its resources to suppress them.

The young Nigerians have been mobilising and organising on social media and many have temporarily adopted the #EndBadGovernance slogan.

However, the government has been using several schemes, including meetings with traditional and religious leaders, as well as threats by security agencies to prevent the protests from happening or prevent them from turning violent if they hold.

As part of police preparation for the protests, Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun has summoned commanders of the mobile police formations across Nigeria to a meeting on Saturday, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

One of the commanders told this newspaper that the sole agenda item of the Abuja meeting was to prepare for the protests.

The mobile police are often deployed to quell riots, an indication that the police fear that the protests could degenerate into violence.

Mr Egbetokun had earlier said the police would protect the protesters if they remained peaceful.

“If the protest is peaceful, you will see us protecting the protesters as long as they remain peaceful,” he said on Tuesday. “But we have a duty to protect lives and property, so we will not sit back and watch hoodlums burning down facilities in the name of protest.”

On Friday, Mr Egbetokun said protest organisers should provide state police commissioners with their personal details, venues of protests, and other information.

The planned involvement of mobile police officers also raises concerns that the government could use force to disperse protesters, as seen during the #EndSARS protests of 2020 in which some demonstrators were attacked and killed, thus turning the protests violent.

Although the government claims its efforts aim to prevent violence, its actions suggest a plan to suppress the protest.

The organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests are demanding decisive action on the ailing economy and other pressing issues.

The organisers, their demands

Different groups are organising the protests, including the Take It Back Movement, led by former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore.

On Friday, the movement sent a letter to FCT minister Nyesom Wike, asking to be allowed to use the Eagle Square for the protest.

“I write you as the Director of Mobilization, Take it Back Movement (TIB) to your office to grant us access to the Eagles Square between August 1st and 10th, 2024, for our #DaysOfRage, #EndBadGovernance protest,” the letter signed by Damilare Adenola reads.

The Abuja minister had threatened not to allow any protest in the federal capital city.

“Don’t go and follow these armed robbers on the road who said they want to protest,” Mr Wike said about the protesters.“There is nothing like protests. Abuja won’t be part of it. What you want is good governance, and we are willing to give you good governance.”

In one of the fliers posted on social media, the protesters demand an end to anti-people policies, overtaxing, and electoral fraud, which they say have caused widespread suffering and frustration.

Specifically, they are calling for the reversal of the fuel price hike to below N300 per litre, the restoration of affordable electricity tariffs, and the reduction of import duties to their previous rates.

They also demand the reversal of the hike in tertiary education fees by many institutions.

The protesters are also demanding transparency and accountability in governance, including the public disclosure and reduction of public officials’ salaries and allowances and an emergency fund to support SMEs.

They also call for electoral reforms, including the autonomy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), electronic transmission of live electoral results, and the reopening of national borders.

Additionally, they demand reforms in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a state of emergency on inflation, and a reform of the judiciary to ensure swift and fair justice.

Suppression strategies by government

Some of the strategies the government is adopting to suppress the protest include threats, arrests and detention.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that major security forces, including the State Security Services (SSS), the Nigerian Army and the police, have issued stern warnings against the protests.

Despite the government’s efforts to suppress the protests, the organisers remain resolute, notably backed by Mr Sowore and a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who has announced the plan by lawyers to defend protesters who are arrested or detained illegally.

On Friday, the Take It Back Movement raised an alarm that its account domiciled with a bank has been frozen “on the instructions of the DSS over our involvement in the forthcoming protest.”

The group, however, vowed to take legal action against the bank. A few hours later, Mr Effiong, the human rights lawyer, wrote to the bank, demanding a detailed explanation within 24 hours of why it froze the account.

Mr Effiong warned that failure to comply with the demand would force the group to take legal action against the bank.

Meanwhile, trails of a clampdown have started manifesting in places like Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto states where at least five people have been arrested for promoting the planned protest.

One of them, Junaidu Abdullahi, a Kano-based TikToker, was remanded in prison last week Friday. He regained his freedom four days ago following the intervention of Mr Sowore and others.

Some states in the north — Bauchi, Adamawa and Niger — have also warned against the protest, threatening not to tolerate protesters.

As the protest date approaches, tension is likely to rise, and the government’s response to the growing demands remains uncertain.

Observers have warned the government to learn from the experience of the #EndSARS nationwide protest and caution against a clampdown on protesters.

Alternative strategies

On Thursday, President Tinubu met with Islamic clerics, traditional rulers and All Progressives Congress (APC) governors.

All three groups had been trying to pacify Nigerians to shun the protests.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the chairperson of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, also attended the president’s meeting with the traditional rulers.

“Nobody that will not be worried about the protest,” one of the traditional rulers who attended the meeting, Emir of Zazzau Ahmed Bamalli, said. “…we are calling on our people to exercise patience and to listen to the words of wisdom.

“The main problem in this country, especially the north, is insecurity,” Mr Bamalli continued. “If the security situation is addressed, certainly people will go back to their farms, and the issue of hunger will drastically reduce and disappear.”