Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to ensure the safety of Nigerian youths who plan to protest against hunger and the poor economy tomorrow.
In a statement on Wednesday, Adegboruwa advised Egbetokun to instruct security agents not to use firearms against the protesters, emphasizing that “protesters are our children and citizens. They do not deserve bullets and crackdowns.”
Adegboruwa also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reverse the policies of removing oil subsidies and devaluing the currency, which have severely damaged the economy and plunged Nigeria into its worst economic crisis.
He said, “I will first like to salute the courage of the organizers of the Hunger and End Bad Governance Protests, for their patriotism and zeal. I know that a lot must have gone into the preparations for the protests, in terms of human and material resources. They are certainly not in vain.
“Since the announcement of the protests, the administration of President Tinubu has become unduly jittery, pandering to primordial ethnic and religious sentiments, to save face.
“No one can deny the fact of hunger, occasioned by galloping food inflation, in which we now buy a tuber of yam for N10,000, with the other staple foods such as Gaari, Rice, Egg, Bread, Beans now out of reach of the common people.
“The economic policies of the Tinubu administration are suffocating the people out of their existence and I’m very happy that the propaganda machinery of the government has failed in these past days, in the face of the biting hunger and mass suffering.
- MY APPEALS:
A. TO THE PRESIDENT
“I will first of all appeal to President Tinubu and his team to rise up to this occasion and stop chasing shadows. The twin policies of oil subsidy removal and currency devaluation have worked to cripple the economy and throw Nigeria into its worst economic crisis. They should be reversed immediately.
“There is a need to urgently end the wastage by government functionaries, arising from their lavish and luxurious lifestyles. How can the President buy a new jet, the Vice-President renovate his house with N21B and the people are expected to suffer? How do you widen your wealth and luxuries and preach to the people to tighten their belts?
“President Tinubu must end all forms of bad governance, of dolling out billions in religious pilgrimages while handing out pittance to students as loans?
B. TO SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
“My second appeal is to the security agencies. The law recognizes the right to peaceful protests, while mandating the police to offer protection to unarmed civilians during their protests. Let no single bullet be fired tomorrow, let there be no arbitrary and unlawful arrest of citizens and let there be no deployment of the military to handle tackle engagements.
“The protesters are our children and our own citizens. They certainly do not deserve bullets and crackdowns.
C. TO THE PROTESTERS
“My final appeal is to the protesters. Even our forefathers in their graveyards have heard your voices loud and clear. The way and manner in which government has been running helter-skelter since the announcement of the protests show the moral victory of your campaigns and your struggles.
“What we have done in the past few days is to facilitate dialogue with the law enforcement and security agencies. The insistence by the Inspector-General of Police of “credible intelligence” with plans for violence is a confirmation of the desperation of government to abort the protests by sponsoring hooligans and thugs to disrupt the protests. This is currently ongoing in many parts of Lagos State.
“I therefore appeal that the protests be orderly and peaceful and conducted in the locations that you have already sent to the police.
“Also, let the days of the protests be reduced to one day or in the maximum three days and thereafter be suspended. Let your demands be made known to the government and then give time to address them.
“I have no doubt that you have the capacity to prosecute the protests as intended and that you have the support and prayers of majority of our people, in all your actions. But let us give room for more dialogue. I offer to join you in this, anytime.
“I make this appeals in the interest of peace, progress and tranquility of our dear nation.
THE NEED FOR MORE ENGAGEMENTS
“There is need for engagement with the government on the issues raised, for the purpose of addressing and redressing them.
“Let the organizers set up different teams to engage with various agents of the government, for immediate action. God bless you all”.