As protesters prepare for October 1, 2024 protest tagged, #FearlessInOctober, the federal government says it is working to ensure that it does not degenerate into riots.

Bayo Omanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, has said that security agencies are already engaging some of the organisers.

?Government is not against any peaceful protest by Nigerians. After all, it is their fundamental right to stage any protest. But the government is always apprehensive about such protests degenerating into a riot as we experienced in August or the 2020 EndSARS protest in many parts of the country,? Onanuga was quoted as saying.

He revealed that the organisers are being monitored to ensure they do not create chaos in the nation.

?Security agencies have been discussing with some of the organisers and they are being monitored so that they do not plunge the country into chaos or allow themselves to be used by internal and external forces which want to subvert the country and the 16-month-old administration,? he said.

Onanuga noted that the Tinubu administration has not denied the difficulties faced by Nigerians, stresssing that reforms embarked upon by the administration have started yielding dividends based on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

?The government wishes to assure Nigerians that there is already light at the end of tunnel and seeks the patience and understanding of our compatriots,? he said.

October 1 has been slated for the #FearlessInOctober protest, which is an offshoot of an earlier protest in August. The protest is aimed to demonstrate against the growing hunger and poverty in the nation, fuelled by the rising cost of living.

Amnesty International had accused Nigerian security forces in August of killing no fewer than 21 protesters during the 10-day protest. In a post via its X handle on the 5th day of the protest, Amnesty International accused the Nigerian authorities of escalating a crackdown on peaceful protesters by arraigning over 1,000 protesters in court.

?The Nigerian authorities are escalating crackdown on peaceful protesters against hunger and corruption. Over 1,000 people have been remanded nationwide. Today 441 people were arraigned in Kano, in what is set out to be an unfair trial based on trumped-up charges.

?Amnesty International again calls for an immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested for exercising their right to peaceful assembly. The government of Nigeria has an obligation to uphold the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,? it said.

The Nigeria police said they have started the trial of 1,135 persons arrested during the August protest. (Text, excluding headline: BusinessDay)

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