. Group rejects Egbetokun’s proposal for confined protests
. Femi Falana, Adegboruwa, other lawyers, NBA, CSOs attend virtual parley with police boss
Samuel Adesola, Abuja
Organisers of the planned #EndBadGovernance nationwide demonstrations scheduled for August 2 to 10 have rejected the proposal by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun for confined protests.
The IGP, at a meeting with the organisers on Tuesday, suggested confined protests in identified locations and advised against street rallies.
But one of the lawyers for the Take It Back Movement, one of the groups organising the nationwide protests, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), rejected the IGP’s proposal.
The virtual meeting was also attended by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), other lawyers, civil society organisations as well as some leaders of the planned protests.
The planned protests against hunger and economic hardship, which are gaining traction on social media, have been scheduled to hold across all states of the Federation as well as the nation’s capital, Abuja in August.
Prices of food and basic commodities have skyrocketed in the last months, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation rates and economic crises sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.
The police, military and the Department of State Services had warned against Kenya-styled protests.
Politicians, who surmised that the planned rallies might end up like the EndSARS demonstrations of October 2020, have continued to appeal to youths to shelve the planned rallies but the young people remain unfazed, doggedly insisting that the protests will hold.
One of the lawyers for the protesters, Adegboruwa had on July 26, 2024, written the IGP to provide police coverage for protesters.
The IGP, in his response letter dated July 29, 2024, directed senior police officers to attend to the request of the senior lawyer.
Egbetokun subsequently requested to meet with Adegboruwa in Abuja on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, “to deliberate further” on his request.
But Adegboruwa opted for a virtual meeting with Egbetokun, enlisting Falana, members of the NBA and others to attend the meeting.
Adegboruwa listed some of the meeting pointsfor the protests as Eagle Square, Abuja; Alausa Park, Lagos; Akpakpava Lane, Benin City; School of Agric, Bauchi; Rosewale Filling Station, Iwo Road, Ibadan; Maiduguri Roundabout, opposite State Stadium, Damaturu, Yobe State; Rainbow Roundabout and Pantani Stadium, River and Freedom Park, Osogbo.
