The organisers of the planned #EndBadGovernance protest scheduled to start from Thursday, August 1, have insisted on taking to the streets ...
The organisers of the planned #EndBadGovernance protest scheduled to start from Thursday, August 1, have insisted on taking to the streets across Nigeria after rejecting a proposal by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun for confined protests.
At a meeting with the organisers yesterday, the IGP suggested confined protests in identified locations and advised against street rallies.
A human rights advocate, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, representing the #TakeitBackMovement, one of the promoters of the proposed nationwide hunger protest, had notified the Nigerian Police of the designated venues for the demonstration. Adegboruwa listed the proposed protest locations yesterday in response to a request for a meeting by Mr. Egbetokun.
The IGP had requested a meeting with the senior lawyer at the Force Headquarters in Abuja to deliberate further on his request seeking police protection for the protesters.
Adegboruwa listed the protest venues as Eagle Square in Abuja; Alausa Park by Secretariat in Lagos; Rosewale Filling Station, Iwo Road in Ibadan; and Freedom Park, Oshogbo.
Others are Opposite School of Agric, Bauchi, along Tafawa Balewa Road; Opposite Wema Bank, Akpakpava Lane, Benin City; Maiduguri Roundabout; opposite State Stadium, Damaturu, Yobe State and Rainbow Roundabout and Pantani Stadium in Rivers State.
Adegboruwa asked that the meeting be expanded to include a broader range of stakeholders and be conducted virtually to facilitate wider participation.
The letter read in part: “We shall be glad to have the contact details of the Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and the Commissioners of Police designated to cover the said public meetings, public rallies and public processions, to ensure a peaceful and crisis-free outing.
“We shall update you with further details in the course of time, hoping that the above information suffices for planning and strategy. We are delighted to attend the meeting with the Inspector-General of Police as requested.
“However, in order to achieve enlarged participation, we request that the said meeting be held virtually, in order to give room for all stakeholders to attend”, he said.
It was learnt that human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), some representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), other lawyers, civil society organisations as well as some arrowheads of the planned protests attended the virtual meeting held yesterday.
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