State commands of the Nigeria Police Force have deployed men in flashpoints as organisers of the October 1 protest insist on going ahead with the demonstration on Independence Day as planned, findings by The PUNCH have shown.

If the protest holds, it will be the second time in two months that angry Nigerians would hit the streets in disapproval of the hardship in the country occasioned by the hike in petrol price and electricity tariff and the floating of the naira by President Bola Tinubu?s government.

According to the organisers, the #FearlessOctober1 demonstration is a continuation of the #Endbadgovernance protest, which took place from August 1 to 10. They added that the latest demonstration was necessitated by the failure of the Federal Government to address their demands, which include hunger in the land, rising cost of hunger, insecurity, government?s wastefulness, electoral reforms, human capital development amongst others.

The group explained that the FCT protest would be held at the Eagle Square, the same venue of the Independence Day parade, while the Lagos protest would take place at the Ikeja Under Bridge.

On Sunday, human rights advocate and leader of the protest, Omoyele Sowore, said they were ?fully prepared? for the protest, adding that they would hit the streets at 7am on the scheduled date.

?We are fully prepared. Our organisers are on the ground and would not be going into hiding. These are revolutionary times, Nigerians will hit the streets en mass starting from 7am on October 1,? he said.

In Lagos, the protest organisers plan to commence their march at the Ikeja Under Bridge at 7:30am.

NORTH

Checks revealed that the Niger State Police Command has deployed personnel and security assets to avert any breakdown of law and order during the Independence Day celebration in the state.

In Suleja, a major town in Niger, six people were feared killed when protesters reportedly attempted to invade a police station during the #Endbadgovernance protest.

On Sunday in Minna, the state capital, gun-wielding security operatives were stationed in some of the major places, including popular markets and road junctions. Police patrol vehicles had also started moving around the city to ensure that peace was maintained in the state.

The Niger State Police Command spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said, ?The Niger State Police Command shall deploy an adequate number of personnel and operational assets for public safety and orderliness. The state Commissioner of Police, Shawulu Danmamman, directed Area Commanders, Tactical Commanders and DPOs to ensure that police visibility was enhanced in their various areas to avert any act of breach of public peace.

?The Command had also engaged labour leaders, trades unions, youth and students leaders in the state and other critical stakeholders towards ensuring and sustaining the relative peace that is being enjoyed for economic growth and development of the state.?

The Kano State Police Command has also deployed its personnel to strategic positions.

?We want to ensure peace and order because we always learn from the past,? the command?s PPRO, Abdullahi Haruna, told The PUNCH.

Haruna added that the command had also engaged the leadership of the Nigerian Patriotic Front Movement, which had indicated its intention to stage a peaceful protest on Tuesday.

?We reminded them of the dangers associated with such a protest, especially in Kano, in view of its nature,? he added.

He assured residents of adequate security, saying the command was fully prepared for any eventuality.

In Kaduna, the state police command has taken proactive measures to prevent potential violence during the planned protest in the state.

A senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed the deployment of personnel across the state aimed at avoiding a repeat of the August protest, which turned violent in the state.

?The ban on public processions is still in force, but we are taking proactive measures to ensure public safety. For security reasons, I cannot reveal the exact number of personnel deployed,? the officer said.

The Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha, advised organisers of the protest to reconsider their plan and give government more time to fix the nation?s economy.

Onuoha stated this on Saturday while engaging with members of the Take It Back Movement, Kogi State chapter at the command?s headquarters in Lokoja.

A statement on Sunday by the PPRO, Kogi Command, William Aya, read in part, ?The CP advised the group to reconsider their planned protest and give government more time to fix the economy of our dear nation.?

Onuoha noted that he called the meeting in response to the letter he received from the Take It Back Movement on Friday.

?The group has the right to peaceful protest in accordance with extant Laws, but we want to avoid playing into the hands of disgruntled elements or hoodlums and to avoid or prevent them from hijacking the process and unleashing mayhem on innocent citizens, destruction of their property, as well as damage of critical infrastructure which will in turn have serious adverse/negative impact on the nation?s economy.?

Ramhan Nansel, the PPRO, Nasarawa command, told The PUNCH they have deployed men across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state to ensure peace during the Independence celebrations.

He said, ?The command is fully prepared for the October 1 celebration, and whatever may arise before, during, and after the celebration. Manpower, assets and all our resources have been mobilised to ensure the state is peaceful from now on.?

The Borno State command says it has deployed personnel to maintain law and order in strategic places across the state.

The command?s PPRO, ASP Nahum Daso, said, ?We have adequately deployed our men within the state to safeguard lives and property and we are ready to prevent any breakdown of law and order ahead of the Independence Day celebration.?

The PPRO, Katsina State Command, Abubakar Sadiq, told The PUNCH in Katsina on Saturday that the command has mobilised ?both human and intelligence resources? for the safety of all, before, during and after the protest.

?We have taken proactive measures to ensure public safety and security, and adequate personnel have been deployed to ensure no breakdown of law and order, adequate intelligence gathering, surveillance, and enhanced patrols throughout the state.?

In Kwara, the state command invited the organisers of the protest for first-hand information on the motive of the protest and to ensure miscreants don?t hijack the protest.

The command spokesperson, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, said, ?The police commissioner invited the organisers of the protest to the police headquarters for a meeting on the proposed protest. The purpose is to engage them in a discussion to know the route that the protesters would take so as to give them adequate security and protect hoodlums who might join the protest with the ulterior motive of attacking government property and make it bloody.?

However, state police commands in Plateau, Gombe, Bauchi and Sokoto told our correspondents that were yet to be notified by the organisers of a planned protest for Tuesday.

South

Commands in the southern states also intensified plans to prevent chaotic situations if the protest holds.

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, on Sunday said the command would on Monday (today) massively deploy its operatives to flashpoints and vulnerable areas across the state to guide against any breach of peace by the October 1 protesters.

Alamutu also said that the command met with students body, transport union members, youth organisations among others on Sunday to engage them and dissuade them from participating in any unauthorised protest.

Alamutu said, ?By tomorrow (today), we shall embark on deployment of police operatives to flashpoints and vulnerable areas across the state. This is to send a powerful signal to all criminals and trouble makers that we won?t allow the peace we are enjoying in the state to be compromised under whatever guise.?

In Bayelsa, the command said it would provide security for the protesters and also forestall a breakdown of law and order during and after the protest.

The state PPRO, Musa Mohammed, said the state Commissioner of Police, Francis Idu, had directed all tactical units to be at alert.

?The CP has directed all tactical units to be on alert to provide security for the protesters during and after the protest in order to avert any breakdown of law and order.?

On its part, the Rivers command said it won?t tolerate a breakdown of law and order in the state during the planned protest while operatives of the Delta command have been placed on ?red alert.?

The Edo State Police Command Nemi Iwo said it was yet to relax the security measures put in place for the just-concluded governorship election in the state.

He noted that It would be sustained to ensure a peaceful Independence Day.

?The security measures put in place before and during the just concluded election is still in place. It will be sustained to ensure a peaceful Edo State.?

The Cross River State command PPRO, Irene Ugbo, recounted the huge destruction recorded in the state during the October 2020 Endsars protest, adding that the command was prepared to resist any form of aggrieved protest in the state.

?We are ready to resist any protest. Anybody that wants to protest should write to the Commissioner of Police for permission. Of course, we will give them support, but whereby some people just come out unexpectedly to create chaos, we are ready to resist them,? she disclosed.

The Ebonyi command PPRO Joshua Ukandu said even though it had not received notification about any planned protest, it was prepared to deploy its men to ensure the state remained peaceful.

Organisers

Meanwhile, the National Director of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, said preparations for the protest were in ?top gear?, noting that they had no plans to go underground as they had done noting wrong, despite the repressive measures by the Tinubu-led administration.

?Preparations are in top gear nationwide and we are going to be coming out on Tuesday, October 1 as scheduled, not just to exercise our constitutional right to protest, but to restate our opposition to the neo-liberal direction of Tinubu?s government. We have no plans of going underground, we have not committed any offense. We are well within our rights and within the ambit of the law?.

?So we are organising openly, and we are doing that despite repressive measures by the Tinubu-led government. But we are not bothered by that because we haven?t committed any offence. If there?s anyone in the wrong, it is the Tinubu regime who have chosen to turn deaf ears to the yearnings and the demand of the Nigerian people, and the Police institution that continue to violate the constitutional right of the people through its repressive measures. But nonetheless we are not detered, and the protest will go on as scheduled?.

Similarly, Director of Mobilization for the Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, stated ?I?m going nowhere. Protest is not a crime. I will not run, having done nothing wrong.?

Publicity Secretary, Take It Back Movement in Rivers State, Andy Akpotive said the protest was aimed at bringing leaders in the country to accountability.

Akpotive stated, ?We are insisting that October 1, 2024 provides us the opportunity, the window, the latitude to come out again and say we will refuse to be cowed, we will refuse to be slaves. We refuse to be kept under in our land where we share equal rights, even with leadership.?

APC, PDP clash

The ruling All Progressives Congress has warned the opposition not to throw the country into anarchy by encouraging Nigerian youths to participate in the planned nationwide protest.

But major opposition parties in the country dissociated themselves, saying the masses who have been on the receiving end of the hardship brought about by President Tinubu?s economic reforms do not need any prompting to hit the street in protest.

In an exclusive with The PUNCH, the National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, warned against disrupting governance and a breakdown of law and order.

He said, ?What happened in the past (protest) has not benefited anybody. The country was shut down literally while people?s property and lives were wasted. The same opposition that encouraged and sponsored them chickened out. They didn?t do anything. Now, if the people are allowed to be deceived by the opposition which are not after the country?s progress but their own interest, they will continue to derail and find themselves in a position they can?t understand.

?So I advise that much as protest is a permitted tool under democracy, abuse of that tool is something that will not be a good seed for the development of any country. My advice is for them to exercise patience and continue to have faith in the President. He has said it times without number that he means well for the country and the youth in particular.

?They shouldn?t allow the opposition that has been rejected by the populace and the poor to continue deceiving them. They have nothing to offer, nothing to offer but this callous deceit and campaign of calumny against a government that is all out to rejig and improve the lives of the citizens.?

The National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdullahi Ibrahim, however, disagreed, accusing the APC-led government of embarrassing and torturing the Nigerian mass right from the moment they took over governance.

?This government has been an embarrassment right from the time they took over power in 2023. It?s a government that has not taken the pain of evaluating the implication of its adverse policies, which has left the people in misery and squalor. It is a government that does not accept dissent or criticism. It?s a government that is known for arrogance and high-handedness.

?Everybody has come to accept that their greatest mistake as citizens was to allow these people to come in place as government. You can see how determined the citizenry is. It doesn?t require any opposition to push it into taking a decision. The country is itself protesting against the hard reality that it has found itself. Nobody needs to tell anybody what it is because we go to the same market.

?So the untold reality, the hardship, the monumental frustration in the land is what is prompting this protest; not PDP or any opposition. Everything they have brought in, Nigerians have disagreed with them and they have not changed. The Tinubu?s government has carried on as if they have conquered the people or the nation. No opposition, by the way, is sponsoring this protest,? he lamented.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, also shared Ibrahim?s sentiment.

He said, ?The opposition cannot be held responsible for people protesting in Nigeria. The masses are feeling the pang of hunger and a hungry man they say is an angry one. I would say that the government, through their actions and inaction, are propelling the public to agitate. It?s within the right of the population to agitate.

?If they are buying fuel at N1,300 Naira as against what they were buying as against what they bought before this government took over, paying electricity more than 300 per cent of what they were getting, buying a bag of rice that once sold for N35,000 for N100,000, why blame it on the opposition? The opposition too are hungry, just like the people in government.

?The supporters of this government are also hungry. After all, we don?t have a separate market we buying goods from. I think the only advice we have for them is to do the right thing. They should do better than they are doing now.?

Lagos restricts protesters

The Lagos State Government has maintained that the court directive restricting protest to two designated venues in Lagos still stands.

The state reiterated this as organisers gear up for the upcoming October 1, 2024 protest in Lagos and other states.

Advising organisers to avoid disrupting social and economic activities in the state, the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN) while responding to questions from journalists on Sunday, emphasised that the governor?s instructions to the Commissioner of Police for maintaining public safety remain in effect.

A Lagos High Court ruling currently restricts protests to two designated venues: Freedom Park and Peace Park, located in the Ojota and Ketu areas of the state. The ruling came in August prior to the ?EndBadGovernance? protest.

Pedro noted that while Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu does not oppose residents expressing their views through protests, but such expressions must occur within the law.

?We have and shall continue to engage the civil societies and non-governmental organisations in Lagos who are genuinely interested in the development of Lagos State to explain and enlighten them that the Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu is not opposed to any group of residents to express their view about any government by way of public protest as it is their fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of Nigeria 1999,? he said.

Pedro clarified, however, that the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, association, and assembly are not absolute.

He said, ?By virtue of section 45, section 215 (4) of the Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and section 4 & 10(2) of the Police Act, it is lawful for the Governor of Lagos State or the Attorney General of Lagos on his behalf to give the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State directive for maintenance and securing of public safety and public order that may impact on the exercise of these fundamental rights.?

?In that respect, we advise that the organisers should utilise the designated venues in the state for public protest to wit; Freedom Park and Peace Park for adequate protection and coverage of the protest by members of the press,? he added.

He warned, ?It is the same set or group of people that organised the last protest that is planning the October 1 protest, so they should be guided by the interim preservative order of injunction of court restricting public protest in the state to designated venues.?

He also mentioned that a substantial legal action is pending against them, wherein an order of interlocutory and perpetual injunction is being sought to permanently restrict any individual or group wishing to organise public protests in Lagos State to designated venues.

He stated, ?It Is a settled principle of law that a defendant who is aware of a pending claim or application for an injunction against him in a court of law has an obligation to respect the court process and not engage in the same act sought to be restrained.?

Pedro concluded, ?Therefore, whether the interim preservative order is subsisting or not, by the subsisting suit, it will be unlawful for anybody, civil society, or NGO in Lagos to convene any public protest outside the designated venue.? (The PUNCH)

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