Organisers of #EndBadGovernance write police, seek security during October 1 protest

The planned nationwide protest organizers have written to the Nigerian Police to request sufficient security for its participants on October 1.

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), Joint Action Front (JAF), and Pan-African Consciousness Renaissance (PACOR-Nigeria) have all signed a declaration together that contains this information.

The national coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Hassan Soweto, urged Nigerians to participate in nonviolent demonstrations against “anti-poor policies” during a press conference on Thursday.

The organizers noted that in Lagos, the protest will commence at Ikeja under bridge at 7:30am, with participants marching through various streets to raise awareness.

They also asked Olanrewaju Ishola, Lagos state commissioner of police, to provide adequate security for participants in line with the Police Establishment Act 2020.

“By this announcement, we inform the Commissioner of Police of our planned October action and remind the Police of their obligation under Section 83 (4) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 to provide adequate security for citizens participating in public meetings, rallies, and protests,” they said.

“This action serves as a warning and urgent cry for the Tinubu administration to address our demands immediately. If our demands are not met, more protests will follow the National Day of Survival.”

Giving reasons the protest must hold, the organizers opined: “We invite you on another journey to redeem our nation as we continue to stand against the anti-poor policies of this regime,” the statement reads.

“As is obvious to everyone, none of the demands of our ten days of rage in August has been met.

“Rather, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu simply went ahead to use our national treasury to procure luxury cars, aircraft, and other luxuries for himself and the first family without caring a hoot about the plea of hungry Nigerians.

“To show the absolute disdain that the Federal Government holds for the people, Tinubu has gone ahead to now unleash on the Nigerian another round of hike in fuel price earlier this month.

“As we speak, the price of fuel hovers between N900 per litre to N1900 per litre depending on which parts of the country you are.

“Meanwhile, less than two years ago, a liter of fuel did not cost more than N200 per litre. This is outrageous. This is intolerable. As a direct consequence of this increment, life has become unbearable for many Nigerian people.

“Many are starving as the increase in fuel price has also impacted food prices. Inflation has rendered the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage irrelevant and incapable of bringing any relief to Nigerian workers.

“At the same time, the sharp rise in the cost of imported goods has rendered traders and shopkeepers redundant as shops are overflowing with goods that no one is ready to buy.

“The situation has also affected businesses and industries. Nothing less than ten multinational firms have left the shores of Nigeria between May last year, leading to even more job losses.

“Based on the foregoing, we of the #EndBadGovernance Movement have decided to declare October 1st, 2024, as ‘National Day of Survival.

“On this day, we call on the Nigerian people, workers, students, youth, the unemployed, traders, and the poor to come out in peaceful protest and demonstrations against the excruciating condition of hardship, poverty, and hunger imposed on us by President Tinubu’s decision to implement IMF/World Bank-inspired anti-poor capitalist policies of fuel price hike, electricity tariff hike, school fees hike, and naira devaluation.

“We also call on the Nigerian people to utilize this day to demand with one voice the immediate and unconditional release of all #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance protesters in police and prison custody, as well as freedom for detained journalists, whistleblowers, activists, and all victims of state repression.”