Better to engage protest organisers now, Reps urge Tinubu

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives minority caucus recommended that the Federal Government engage with the planned protestors in an effort to find a long-term solution to the issues that the latter had brought up.

At the conclusion of their special meeting/dinner in Abuja on Monday night, the caucus made the demand as part of their resolution.

The caucus’s chairman, Kingsley Chinda, was reported in a statement released by the media team on Wednesday as pleading with the organizers of the scheduled protest to abandon the concept due to the concerning security conditions in the nation.

We urge the administration to have a conversation with the demonstrators who are scheduled to arrive as well as to consider the important issues they are bringing up and the areas in which government action is required. The government ought to step in.

“We are not going to encourage any protesters because in the past, we observed in most cases that even peaceful protests have been overtaken by hoodlums, and with the insecurity situation in some parts of the country, you may not have the control of the gathering of people. So some unscrupulous people may use the opportunity to create chaos,” he said.

He also called on the Federal Government government to adopt a non-kinetic approach to tackling the security challenges in the country.

“We acknowledge and observe the insecurity situation in the country and we call on the government to use carrot and stick by ensuring that the result is seen. Let all the security chiefs do what is right to ensure that Nigerians are protected,” he added.

The caucus also called on the government to create means to ensure citizens are self-reliant in a bid to tackle the economic challenges in the country.

“We also acknowledged in our discussion that there is hunger in the land and we appeal to the government not only to be giving palliatives but to create ways and means whereby people can be self-reliant,” he said.

He said the dinner was organised to thank members of the caucus for their support.

“Basically the main purpose of our gathering was just to have an end-of-year dinner. We felt it is important to organise a dinner and thank all our members for giving us the necessary support,” he added.