August protest: Heavy security as protesters hit streets in Abuja, Rivers, Lagos
There is a heavy security presence across major cities in Nigeria as on August 1 protesters gathered in Abuja, and in Kaduna, Lagos, and Rivers states.
Channels Television’s ‘The August Protests’ programme showed videos of protesters who converged across states and were unanimous in their statements that hunger and hardship in Nigeria were their motivations for the mass action.
In Abuja, protesters gathered with placards reading ‘Endbadgovernance’, ‘Enough is Enough’, ‘Endhunger’, and ‘Nigerians are ready for New Naija.’
The protesters are demanding a reduction in food inflation, which stood at 40.87 per cent in June 2024, a reversal of electricity tariff hikes and ten other demands.
An activist lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, said protests have been peaceful so far.
Speaking on the protest, Samson Itodo, the Executive Director of Yiaga, said the demands of the protesters align with the pains of everyone.
He noted that the majority of Nigerians are hungry.
According to him, the protest symbolises the need to address the challenges facing Nigeria as a country.
“If you look at the issue of hunger, it is obvious that Nigerians are hungry. My family is hungry. There is economic hardship. The protest symbolises a lot of things. Some actions were taken by state officials that do not portray that they have a sense of urgency with the challenges the citizens grapple with,” he said.
This is as the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Mr Adewale Oyerinde, spoke on the need for the protest to be peaceful.
Meanwhile, in the major southeast states, Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, and other states, there are no protesters at the designated venues, according to a Channels TV report.
There is low vehicular movement across major states in Nigeria.
Recalls that in October 2020, the #EndSARS protest started peacefully but ended on a bad note, with properties destroyed across the country.
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