CITIZENS COMPASS—As the nationwide protests entered Day 2 on Friday, August 2, 2024, the protesters have disclosed that the protests would hold non-stop for Ten days.
On its Secretariat Reports made available to Citizens Compass, the protesters under the aegis of Joint Action Front (JAF), called on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to address hunger in the land.
The statement signed by its Chairperson, Dr. Oladipo Fashina, and Secretary, Comrade Abiodun Aremu, said , “the JAF TAATAN Aluta Advance Forces took off from Ikeja Under Bridge with about 100 protesters. And began the protest march towards Ojota in defiance to the jankara court order .
“By the time they were in Oregun, the protesters had grown to about 2,000. At Ojota, over 5,000 protesters converged.”
“Our comrades played their historical role, in line with the organisation directives, by coming out to give confidence to the people who had been subjected to fierce intimidation and threat of terror from the state and its hirelings. They refused to yield territory to the sponsored thugs at Ikeja Under Bridge and won the battle against the thugs who had been stationed at Ojota and who developed cold feet on the sight of a marching crowd. ’
As regards Day 2 of the protests, they said, “Nigeria is rich. The wealth belongs to the people. Many Nigerians are hungry, have no jobs, no education, no healthcare, no potable water, no electricity supply and no affordable transportation.
“Many cannot feed their families or educate their children. Those who are lucky to have jobs are not much different. They also cannot afford a decent living for their families. On the other hand, there is a very tiny group of Nigerians who have cornered the wealth that belong to the working people and the poor, who are in the majority.
“They loot the treasury and use their stolen wealth to sustain themselves in power through their political parties. They use their power to get richer and richer while the poor get poorer and poorer. This is the system of exploitation and oppression. It is the system that brings out the army and the police to kill poor people when they protest against oppression and exploitation. We want to change that system and replace it with a system where the working people and the millions of people who are suffering under the system of exploitation will win power and ensure that the wealth of Nigeria is used to ensure a good living for the majority of the people who are now exploited and oppressed. The TIB OGUN STATE TOOK #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria Protest to the Chairman Ado-Odo-Ota local government Secretariat. This is what we mean by system change.”
“System change is not replacing one exploiter’s government by another exploiter’s government. It is replacing an exploiter’s government by a people’s government to reorganise Nigeria and put an end to oppression and exploitation. This is what JAF stands for. The people’s government can only be brought about by a political party of the working people and the poor that will be committed to ending the policies of privatization and deregulation and looting and exploitation by the class of exploiters and looters and ensure that the wealth of our country is judiciously used to benefit ALL.’’
“In 2015, we as JAF re-affirmed at a press Conference held on March 9, 2015, which cautioned that: Irrespective of the party that wins the presidential elections, the crisis in the economy is bound to continue because the economic agenda of the two major parties (PDP and APC) remains dependent on oil and capitalist policies of privatisation and deregulation.
“These policies are operated and championed by servants of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose main business is to steal our national wealth for the use of the exploiters in Europe, United States of America, Japan, Asia, etc. These agents cannot defend the working people, the poor and the oppressed anywhere. Re-issued by the JAF Secretariat for this Protest, August 1st -10th, 2024.”
Meanwhile, a flier for Day 3 of the protests spotted by our Correspondent had the logo of JAF, PRP Vanguard, Yoruba Revolutionary Movement (YOREM), Amilcar Cabral Ideological School Movement (ACIS-M), and Youth Rights Campaign (YRC).
Others were the Movement for African Emancipation (MAE), Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Precision, Electrical, and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA), and Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR).
The protesters were made up of a coalition of youth, civil societies, socialists and radical groups.
On Friday, Police reportedly tear-gassed protesters and a journalist who converged on the Ibom Plaza, Uyo as the #EndBadGovernance protest entered Day 2 in Akwa Ibom State.
In response, spokesperson, Akwa Ibom Police Command, ASP Timfon Jobn, said the Command was too busy monitoring the protest and could not respond to a media enquiry.
In Edo State, security was beefed up within the Benin metropolis especially around government infrastructures as the nationwide protests entered Day Two.
Citizens Compass reports that men of the Nigerian Army, police and Civil Defence were stationed at strategic locations within the city and the Kings Square venue of the protest.
Several vehicles of the Nigerian Army and armed policemen were seen patrolling major streets particularly Sakponba Road and other major roads.
In Kaduna State, hoodlums reportedly looted rice mills situated along Zaria Road in Kaduna State during the nationwide protest.
An X user, @Segalink, on Friday, shared a video which captured some people carting away bags of rice.
Protests’ accounts in Ogun State said the protesters converged on the Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government Secretariat.
In Alausa, the protesters were seen kneeling down in prayers committing the day to the hands of the Almighty God.
At Ojota the protesters held the Jumat service by the road side.
While at Ojota, ome suspected thugs attempted to infiltrate and hijack the protests but for the quick observance of the regular protesters who resisted the attempt and drew the attention of the Police.
The protesters unequivocally said any attempt to hijack the protests would be strongly resisted.
Many of them complained about hunger, hardship, inflation, excessive spending and bad governance in the country among others.
A Lagos-based lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has called for an indefinite suspension of the ongoing nationwide protest.
He disclosed this in a statement on Friday calling on President Tinubu to address the nation and engage the protesters through their representatives.
Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has frowned at the molestation meted to journalists by the police officers at Eagle Square during the #EndBadGovernance protest.
