A renewed protest to demand good governance under the aegies of #RevolutionNow was on Wednesday disrupted by soldiers and police men in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other cities like, Lagos, Ondo and Osogbo, capital of Osun State.
The protest tagged national day of action is being held in major cities of the country in commemoration of the first anniversary of the #RevolutionNow Movement held on August 5, 2019 under the leadership of Sowore Omoyele, publishers of Sahara Reporters and a former presidential candidate.
In Abuja, the protesters who converged at the popular Unity Fountain, located at Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama at about 8am, were seeing holding placards with several inscriptions, depicting the state of poor governance across the country.
As they chanted songs, demanding the Federal Government to address many of the issues plaguing the country, officers of Nigeria Police prevented them from going on with the protest.
About 60 protesters were reportedly arrested after police took over the protest at the Unity Fountain.
Deji Adeyanju, a human rights activist who was part of the Abuja protest posted on his Twitter page pictures of protesters who were ordered to lie face down by a team of heavily armed security agents.
“Security agents harrasing peaceful protesters but they run or cry when they see Boko Haram or bandits,” Adeyanju wrote.
He lamented that the country is back in the era of military, noting that the government deployed a combined team of police, soldiers, DSS and others because of the protest.
“We are currently witnessing a joint madness by the military, police and other security agencies as over 60 of our comrades have been arrested over peaceful #RevolutionNow protest. The Abacha days are here once again,” Adeyanju wrote in another tweet.
Across major entry points in Abuja like Dutse, Airport road, security agents including soldiers, police, SSS, Civil Defence Corps and FRSC took strategic positions conducting stop and search on vehicles.
At the popular Berger Roundabout, a joint team of police, SSS, Civil Defence Corps and FRSC were seeing heavily armed under the bridge.
Reports say all the protesters at Berger Roundabout were arrested by the security operatives who came in about 10 vehicles.
“Yes, they came with about 10 vehicles, I mean the security operatives and they packed all the protesters away,” an eyewitness told The ICIR.
Protesters were also not allowed in Lagos, Ondo and Osogbo where security agents reportedly fired tear gas to disperse them.
According to PM News, Agba Jalingo, Publisher of Cross River Watch, was arrested alongside some journalists and Revolution protesters in Ikeja Lagos.
The protest also took place in Oyo State, though no report of arrest, even as protesters also converged in London.
The organisers of the protest had earlier on Tuesday announced details of the mass action, including convergence points in 10 different states across the nation, The Cable reports.
So far, arrests by security agents of the government have been made in Abuja, Lagos and Osun, where citizens and members of the Revolution Now protest have gathered to demand a functional government, The ICIR gathered.
It could be recalled that Sowore, who mobilised for the protest was arrested on August 3, 2019 for planning to organise a protest which the government said was an attempt to take over power from the sitting president.
He was released on December 24, 2019
