Organisers of the planned #EndBadGovernance nationwide rallies in August have rejected the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun’s proposal for limited protests.
During a meeting with the organisers on Tuesday, the IGP urged restricted protests in specific sites and warned against street rallies.
“It is not advisable to go on street processions because as you are planning a protest, some are planning violence,” the Inspector General of Police told you.
However, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), a lawyer for the Take It Back Movement, one of the groups spearheading the nationwide rallies, rejected the IGP’s request.
The virtual meeting was attended by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), other attorneys, civil society organisations and other arrowheads of the planned protests.
The planned protests over economic hardship, which are gathering steam on social media, are set to take place in all states of the Federation as well as the nation’s capital, Abuja, in August.
Prices for food and essential goods have skyrocketed in recent months, as Nigerians grapple with one of the country’s highest inflation rates and economic crises, triggered by the government’s dual policies of removing petrol subsidies and unifying forex windows.
On July 26, 2024, Adegboruwa, one of the protesters’ lawyers, wrote to the IGP requesting police coverage for the protesters.
In his response letter dated July 29, 2024, the IGP asked senior police personnel to comply with the senior lawyer’s request.
Egbetokun subsequently requested a meeting with Adegboruwa in Abuja on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, “to deliberate further” on his proposal.
However, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria chose a virtual meeting with the police commissioner, inviting Falana, NBA members, and others to attend.
Adegboruwa named Eagle Square in Abuja, Alausa Park in Lagos, Akpakpava Lane in Benin City, the School of Agriculture in Bauchi, Rosewale Filling Station on Iwo Road in Ibadan, the Maiduguri Roundabout opposite the State Stadium in Damaturu, Yobe State, the Rainbow Roundabout and Pantani Stadium in River, and Freedom Park in Osogbo as protest hotspots.