• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

How Nigerians dared police to hold #RevolutionNow Protest in Abuja

#RevolutionNow

Amidst heavy police presence to stop the proposed #RevolutionNow Protests, Nigerians defied the early morning heavy downpour in Abuja, the nation’s capital on Monday to protest against “oppression and bad governance” in the country under President Muhammadu Buhari, even as they demanded the release of one of the conveners of the protest march, Omoleye Sowore.

The protesters converged on the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) office chanting anti-government songs and calling for a ‘revolution’ in Nigeria as they registered their displeasure with the state of the nation.

Adebayo Raphael, who was one of the leaders of the group while speaking lamented that the country was in danger even as he urged all Nigerians to be part of the revolutionary process. He added that there must be freedom for people to voice their opinions and let the government know when things are not going well for them.

“We are here solely for #RevolutionNow protest, we have decided to begin the process. We know very well that this process will begin a revolutionary process in Nigeria that will liberate every suffering people in this country.

“Today marks the beginning of a series of demonstrations of civil resistance against oppression and bad governance in this country. We are here at the human rights commission and our purpose here is to awake a sleeping public institution, that Nigeria is a gun powder waiting to explode.

“We shall never again tolerate the aggregation of our national treasury by a few who are only hell-bent on milking this country dry. Our desire here is that we want a Nigeria that will work for everyone. We don’t want a Nigeria that only works for only a select few criminals,” Adebayo stated.

He condemned the clampdown on dissenting voices stressing that it is a violation of fundamental human rights of the people. He also condemned the arrest of Sowore, adding that it would only worsen the situation.

Sowore, the arrowhead of the #RevolutionNow was arrested on Saturday by the Department of State Services (DSS), which claimed that he posed a threat to public safety and social harmony, adding that the protest amounted to treason and terrorism.

Adebayo said further that President Muhammadu Buhari government could only inflict injury on their bodies but could never kill the idea behind the ‘revolution’.

“Leave Omoyele Sowore. Sowore has not killed anybody on the street. Sowore is not Fulani herdsmen. Sowore is not Boko Haram. Even Boko Haram are planning public parade in Borno. They want to do ten years’ anniversary and you are arresting a man that is calling for sanity in this country. We make it very clear that incarceration of Omoyele Sowore should be brought to an end,” Adebayo said.

One other protester, Dare Ariyo Atoye, said, “This revolution is an idea which time has come and we warn the government if they fail to allow us constructively engage our nation and to speak, the masses will rise up and it will be too late for them (the federal government).

“The reason we are here today is to bring frustration of our people for the government to know that we’re tired of what is going on. Our people are tired of the killings and kidnapping where herdsmen are unleashing terror. Our people are tired. The revolution we are talking about is already happening.”

 

 Innocent Odoh, Abuja