By Elizabeth Chukwuma
Yusuf Bichi Magazie , Director general, Department of State Security, DSS, and the Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of , Police, IGP, appear to have laid the foundation for the Revolutionary Protest Now planned protest on Monday, August 5, 2019, to fail in the country.
The protest which may have planned to follow the footstep of the Organisers of the protest in the Asian country of n Hon Kong and South American country of Puerto Rico Sudan and Algeria, which may not have been meant to force a violent removal of their Presidents for bad governance by the Military as it happened it Sudan or Algeria.
The intention of the Organisers may have been to force the President Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressive Congress, APC, government to change his way of governance to reduce the suffering of the people which had been on for the past four years. Yusuf Birchi Magazi, the Director General, Department of State Security, dss, and Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, IGP ,may have read meaning into the planned protest as a threat to the security of the station and quickly devised strategies to forestall it from taking place to prove to the Katsina born Nigerian President that they are doing their work.
The duo may have been encouraged to mobilise their men for action when they saw a video clip of the meeting of the Omoyele Sowore , a former Presidential Candidate of African Action Congress, AAC in the last general election and who incidentally is the publisher of Sahara Reporters, a on line, Publication based in New York, United States, and his group, Revolution Now, other leaders, appealing to Nigerians to come out in mass to participate in the planned protest .
The video clip alleged to have gone viral may have prepared the mind of the duo at the instance of the Presidency to go g back to the drawing board to avoid the Sudanese or Algerian experience repeating itself in Nigeria.
As a prelude to forestall the Organisers of the protest from going ahead with their plan, a combined team of the DSS and the Police had raided Sowore at mid night and whisked him away. Other prominent leaders of the group were also said to have been arrested and detained at various locations in the country. The group was therefore left without a leader to direct them on what to do.
The Directors of the DSS and the Commissioners of Police in the states on the orders of their Heads at Abuja , may not have helped matters as they quickly deployed fierce-looking officers armed to the teeth at strategic locations in the states to disperse protesters who may have heeded to the Revolutionary Now leaders call.
In spite of the DSS and police efforts to forestall the protest, it was a partial success in Lagos state, home state of Ahmed Bola Tinubu , a former governor of the state and APC , National leader. The situation in Lagos was not different from Ogun state, a flashpoint of political radicalism in Nigeria. The protesters who were said to have gathered at the National stadium, to be addressed by the state leaders of the group , preparatory for the last Monday protest were said to have been dispersed by trigger hungry security operatives as a number of protesters were said to have been arrested including a Journalist and taken to police Custody. The Lagos state leaders of Revolution Now were forced to change to another ;location to continue their demonstration where they were said to have promised to continue the demonstration the next day until the government change their style of governance.
The situation was more worrisome in Ogun state where the police and other security agencies personnel were said to have exhibited brutal force in major streets at Abeokuta , the Capital, to frustrate the people from coming out to join the protesters who were already gathering at strategic locations. Abimbola Oyeyemi, the Spokesperson of the state police Command who justified the police action sid they would not sit-by and watch the state being thrown into confussion.
Eyewitness account said there was heavy security in Ilorin, the Kwarra state Capital, to forestall the protesters from going ahead with their protest plot. The protest which was scheduled to hold at Unity Fountain ground at Abuja which could have been addressed by Sowore , their leader was stopped by the police at the instance of the IGP. Some of the Abuja based protesters were said to have defiled the police Order to go hime to find their way to the front of the National Human Right Commission, NHRC, office to stage the protest. Ariyo Dare and other leaders of the group in Abuja, were said to have submitted a letter and petition to protest the detention of Sowore, their leader to the Commission. The protest was a complete failure in the north as there was no sign of Revolution Now activities in the 19 states that make up northern Nigeria,
This may have informed why the Presidency had commended those who could not heed to the Sowore call for the nation-wide protest against alleged bad governance. Garba Shehu, senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity ,confirmed that ‘’millions of Nigerians went about their businesses: work, seeking employment, attending school, College and carig for their families’’.
He may have given the impression that that refusal of many people from different parts of the country to embark on the protest had made a bold Statement that the country hard earned democracy could not be easily be wished away to satisfy selfish interests. The Presidential Spokesperson said the President was humbled by the support which Nigerians had given to him in this trying period.
But Kasim Afegbua, spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential Campaign Organisation in the last general election noted that the DSS and Adamu led Nigerian Police Force, NPF, may not have stressed themselves with these troubles of planning how to forestall a planned protest in the country if the APC, had changed their style of governance. Afegbua stressed that if the party which replaced the PDP, at the Federal level ‘’ can govern the nation well, Nigerians would not be agitating’’. He cited the blueprint of the group which had had exposed the failures of the government in certain critical areas of the economy , both politics and welfare of the people which for the Buhari led government to change for good. The Edo state born politician said the Revolution Now protest has sent a signal to the APC that Nigerians are not ready to tolerate bad governance from their leaders any longer.