Abuja, Aug. 11, 2024 – The #EndBadGovernance protesters ended the 10-day protests in Abuja on Saturday with a promise to return on Oct. 1 if their demands are not met.
Omoyele Sowore, one of the leaders of the protests, announced the likely return of the protesters in a televised interview on X.
He said the protesters would start again if the federal government failed to meet their demands.
“The protests will resume at the beginning of October and might even start earlier, depending on the variable; whether Oct.1 is Independence Day or not,” Sowore said.
The protesters are demanding a reversal of the fuel subsidy removal, review of electricity tariffs, increase in the minimum wage to N250,000 and an end to bad governance, among others.
On Saturday, the protesters in Abuja took to the streets around Apo roundabout and Lologoma-Sunnyvile axis.
They protesters came out in their numbers with placards with inscriptions like “End hunger” and “Reverse fuel subsidy removal”, “Rent must be monthly,” “Bring Back corruption-free fuel subsidy,” and “If Diaspora sends us money, they must vote too.”
The Women Against Hunger held a significant rally in front of the National Stadium in Abuja, drawing attention to the widespread hunger and economic distress.
They sang in unison, imploring the government to acknowledge the suffering of Nigerians.
One of the protest leaders said: “Today is August 10, 2024, earlier on we declared 10 days of rage to end bad governance in Nigeria. However, it is now open that President Bola Tinubu is not ready to listen to the demands of Nigerians, nor does he want to accede to our demands.
“Today is the final day of rage, and we will be leaving the streets today, and we are promising the Nigerian government and President Tinubu that we are coming back unless he accedes to our demands, and this time we will be declaring a 10-million-man march across Nigeria.”
Protesters in Oyo and Ogun states also took part in the 10th-day protests on Saturday. In Ibadan protesters were seen with placards at the various sections of the metropolis.
In Abeokuta, protesters chorused the popular solidarity song – “Solidarity forever, we will always fight for our rights.”
There were, however, no protests in Kaduna, Kano and Niger states considered the most violent states during the 10-day period.
Governors in the states had to impose curfew to stem the mayhem which resulted in looting of shops, burning of houses and death of both civilians and security operatives.
The Kaduna State Security Council had to impose a 24-hour curfew on the two major towns of Kaduna and Zaria at the height of the crises on Aug. 4.
It was, however, reviewed to between 6.00pm and 8.00 am following the abatement of the mayhem.
Samuel Aruwan, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, said the state security council decided to relax the curfew after improved security conditions in Kaduna and Zaria towns and their environs
There were reports of continued raids on shops, and houses even during the brief period when the curfew was relaxed.
Many parts Lagos State, which had always been the hotbed of political crises and protests in the past, were, however, fairly calm during the 10-day crises across the country.
According to the protesters, the federal government holds the ace in determining the how soon the protests will finally end. (GBN)
