3rd August, 2024
By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
The Take it Back Movement, one of the oganisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests has rejected the appeal by Lagos lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa that they should call off the EndBadGovernance protest intially scheduled to hold for 10 day at the second day.
Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and lawyer to the Take it Back Movement had in a statement on Friday regretted that the protest which entered its second day on Friday had seemingly been hijacked by “fifth columnists” and ” angry persons”.
The senior lawyer noted that though the protests against hunger and bad governance and were designed to be peaceful and well-coordinated, fifth columnists and some angry persons had infiltrated the ranks of the protesters to derail their laudable mission.
He lamented the deaths and destruction of properties that have characterised the protests in various parts of the country so far.
“I appeal to the protesters to withdraw themselves from their various protest grounds and to suspend the protests immediately and indefinitely, in order to give room for meaningful dialogue and engagement with the government.
“Given that the protests were said to have been hijacked by sponsored agents, it is necessary to avoid further losses and casualties.
“The organizers of the protests and their representatives should embrace dialogue with the government,” Adegboruwa said.
However, Dmilare Adenola, Director of Mobilisation of Take It Back Movement, told Channels Television on Friday that Adegboruwa does not speak for his group.
On the contrary, Adenola said the protest may even exceed 10 days if the government failed to respond to their demands.
“Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa is not our lawyer and he doesn’t speak for us. He might have presented himself as the solicitor but he is not hungry. He is a senior advocate of Nigeria who lives well. He is not hungry like the people taking over the streets.”
“We are waiting for the government to respond to us and address our demands. And until then, the protests continue.” he said.
He, however, noted that though the demands of protesters have not been addressed, a statement has been made to the government of the day.
Adenola added that the protesters have shown that they can hold their leaders accountable.
Asked whether the protests were being sponsored by anyone, he said the sponsors of these protests were hunger and economic deprivation.
Adenola said if the Federal Government is sincere and concerned with the plights of the people, the President would have addressed the demands of the protesters by now.
