Adegboruwa calls on young people to stop protesting and start talking to the administration.
On the second day of the countrywide #EndBadGovernance protests, human rights lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa urged young people to call off the demonstrations and instead engage in dialogue with the administration.
“In spite of the organisers’ best efforts, it appears that fifth columnists and other disgruntled individuals managed to infiltrate the protesters’ ranks in order to undermine their noble mission,” he stated on Friday.
“I appeal to the protesters to withdraw themselves from their various protest grounds and to suspend the protests immediately and indefinitely in order to allow for meaningful dialogue and engagement with the government.”
It is vital to prevent additional losses and injuries in light of claims that sponsored agents hijacked the protests.
A conversation with the government should be embraced by the protest organisers and their representatives, he emphasised.
The lawyer for the Take It Back Movement, a protest organiser, expressed sadness over casualties and said that causing harm was not their intention.
He conveyed “sincere condolences to the employers and families of the security personnel, as well as to the protesters, praying to God to comfort them and grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses.”
On Wednesday, just before the protests, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) pleaded with the organisers to shorten the 10-day action to just one day.
“Directly address the nation and then engage the protesters, through their representatives.” was his urgent request to President Bola Tinubu.
Next, he suggested the government form a committee with honest people to meet with the demonstrators and discuss the concerns they have voiced.
Protests under the hashtag #EndGovernance began in nearly every one of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Thursday, causing tension to rise across the country.
On the first two days of the demonstrations, police were spotted dispersing the crowd—primarily young people—using tear gas, despite the fact that CSOs denounced the police’s behaviour.
The protests went wrong when some criminals used them to steal from businesses and the people.
State administrations in several states instituted curfews in potentially violent LGAs in an effort to reduce looting and violence that followed the protests. These states were Kano, Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Nasarawa, and Jigawa.
There have been casualties, according to Amnesty International as well. A police officer was killed, multiple officers were injured, and police stations were set on fire, according to Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun.
Protests over the country’s economic woes, which gained momentum on social media, started on Thursday, August 1, 2024, and will span the whole Federation and the capital, Abuja, until August 10, 2024.
The government’s dual policies of removing gas subsidies and unifying forex windows have caused food and basic commodity prices to spike in recent months, contributing to one of the greatest inflation rates and economic crises in the country.
The return of fuel subsidies and the maintenance of the current exchange rate are among the requests made by the demonstrators. Food insecurity, high unemployment, and excessive government expenditure are other issues they want the government to handle. There should be a redoubled effort to combat corrupt politicians, and there should be quick reforms to the anti-graft agency EFCC and the electoral umpire INEC.