By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Lagos lawyer and activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, on late Wednesday evening appealed to the organizers of the nationwide protest scheduled to begin today 1 August to reduce their protests to only one or at most, three days.
Adegboruwa is also a lawyer to Take It Back Movement, one of the group behind the #EndBadGovernance protests billed to hold across Nigeria from August 1 to 10.
However, while urging the protesters to be orderly and peaceful as they go out on Thursday to protest in the locations already sent to the police the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said they must also make allowance for engagement with government over the issues they are complaining about.
He therefore urged organisers of the protests to set up teams to engage with various government agents for immediate action.
The lawyer who warned security agencies against firing bullets, arbitrary arrests of citizens and deployment of the military noted that the way and manner in which the government has been running helter-skelter since the announcement of the protests shows 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 the 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 you have already sent to the police.
“Also, let the days of the protests be reduced to one day or 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 the 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 appeal in the interest of peace, progress and tranquility of our dear nation,” he added.
The Senior Advocate also warned security agencies that 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 citizens. They certainly do not deserve bullets and crackdowns.”
The lawyer advised President Bola Tinubu and his team to begin to meet the demands of the protesters by immediately reversing the twin policies of oil subsidy removal and currency devaluation.
Adegboruwa said this was because the policies have only worked to cripple the economy and throw Nigeria into its worst economic crisis.
He also advised the President on the need to urgently end the wastage by government functionaries, arising from their lavish 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?” he said.
