POLICE PROTECT PRO-BUHARI PROTESTERS

The Nigeria Police Force on Thursday led a pro-government group to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, two days after its operatives used water cannon and tear gas to disperse ‘resume or resign’ protesters who are not pro-government.

The group, Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative, organised the march to the Villa to drum support for the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

This is just as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, received members of another group, Centre for Civil Society and Justice.

But the ‘resume or resign’ protesters came out for the fourth day in Abuja, insisting that the President must resign.

Members of the coalition for good governance called on the President to take his time to recuperate before returning to the country.

The group’s coordinator, Okpokwu Ogenyi, who led the march from the Unity Fountain to the Presidential Villa junction, said the Federal Government was doing well and “the system is working.”

The pro-Buhari demonstrators were led to the Villa junction by policemen.

“Mr. President, stay (in London) until you are fit; anyone who is tired of staying in Nigeria can relocate,” Ogenyi said.

Taking a swipe at the ‘resume or resign’ protesters, Ogenyi said, “The group led by Charlie Boy did not know God, they have no religion; Even if Buhari had asked the late Yar’Adua to resign when he was sick, must we repay evil with evil?”

Some of the pro-Buhari protesters told one of our correspondents that they were hired for the march with the promise that they would be paid N2,000 each.

Meanwhile, the ‘resume or resign’ protesters accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s handlers of holding him captive.

The protesters, who began their protests on Monday, again assembled at Unity Fountain, Abuja, on Thursday.

They advised the President to demonstrate his touted integrity by resigning from office, saying he could no longer rule the country.

The civil society coalition members reminded Buhari that he once asked the late President Umar Yar’Adua to resign or be impeached when the latter was ill in 2010, stressing that he should toe the path of honour by also taking the advice.

Speaking to journalists on the fourth day of their protest, the convener, Deji Adeyanju, said Buhari should leave office if he knew what integrity meant.

He said, “We must tell the man (Buhari) who said he had integrity; the man who asked Yar’Adua to resign in 2010 when he was sick. The same advice he gave to the late president is the advice we are also giving him; a President that has been sick for 94 days will resign if he has integrity.”

The activist said posterity would be unkind to all those that visited Buhari, but failed to advise him to do the right thing.

“They (presidential handlers) ‘packaged’ Buhari for visitors; they packaged him for media photo shoot, but posterity would not be kind to him for the way he has been handling the country. Posterity will be unkind to the Wole Soyinkas of this world who are keeping quiet because they consider this their government,” he said.

A member of the Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy, Ariyo Atoye, said some aides were holding the President captive and preventing him from resigning.

Atoye lampooned governors and other officials who visited the President in London, United Kingdom, saying they were “unpatriotic and are only striving to be politically correct.”

He stated that the government had been unable to handle the various issues in the country including the anti-Igbo ultimatum by some northern youths because “the Presidency is in crisis and the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is operating under a terrible situation.”

Atoye said, “All the people visiting Buhari to take pictures are unpatriotic; they see a man who is unwell, but because of political correctness, they did not tell him the truth.”

Popular artiste, Charles Oputa, aka Charlie Boy, urged Nigerian youths to fight for their future by joining the campaign to compel Buhari to resign.

He said, “Nigerians have the right to demand the health status of the President whose medical bills are being paid by the public.

But the Presidency described the “resume or resign” protest as “an illegal assembly organised to deliver a body blow to the war against corruption.”

According to a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this on Thursday while receiving members of the Centre for Civil Society and Justice, who staged a rally in support of Buhari at the precincts of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Shehu assured them that attempts to derail the war against corruption would not succeed.

He said, “The beneficiaries of the old order are fighting back. We have been warned that corruption will fight back. In a country where just one woman, for having the opportunity to serve as minister, has N47.2bn and $487.5m of public resources in cash and property traced to her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; you don’t expect the beneficiaries of that order to allow the Buhari administration some peace.

“Anybody desiring to replace the President, whether you are a wrestler, a hairdresser or a musician, you should go through the electoral process,” he added.

The convener, Mr. Goodluck Obi, was quoted as saying that his group had “absolute faith and trust in President Buhari’s administration.

Buhari: Knocks for FG as police assault ‘resume or resign’ protesters

Nigerians have accused the Federal Government of unleashing the police on ‘resume or resign’ protesters; describing the action as barbaric.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Ali, and civil society organisations said the people had the rights to protest, adding that the police should be trained in protest-control strategy.

A cameraman with Silverbird Television, Femi Togun, and a protester, Theophilus Abumagada, were among those that were injured on Tuesday in Abuja after policemen fired tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters, who were demanding the return of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Togun was also allegedly assaulted by eight policemen who slapped and dragged him on the ground.
The policemen were also said to have initially confiscated his camera which they later released.
Abumagada, who was taken to the Federal Staff Clinic at the Federal Secretariat Complex, choked on the tear gas used on the protesters by the police.

An STV reporter, Amadin Uyi, said he was also beaten up by the policemen for covering the protest.

He said, “The policemen beat me up and also slapped me. When they saw my cameraman recording the assault, about eight of them attacked him. When he fell, then they dragged him on the ground.”

“They seized our camera, but later released it. Femi’s (Togun) hand was bruised and he sustained an injury in his leg.”
Togun corroborated Uyi, saying the operatives attacked him because he recorded the assault on his colleague.

“They attacked me when they saw me filming them as they were assaulting Uyi; they took my camera and dragged me on the ground,” he stated.


RELATED: #OURMUMUDONDO: POLICE INJURE 'RETURN OR RESIGN' PROTESTERS
 
The protesters from four civil society groups have been demanding that the President, who has been on medical leave in London, United Kingdom, since May, 2017, should resume in office or resign. They started the protest on Monday.

The coalition members had embarked on a sit-out at the Unity Fountain, Maitama, in continuation of their demand on Tuesday when the armed policemen, who initially feigned indifference, abruptly asked them to leave.

The protesters ignored the order, prompting the police to use water cannons and fire tear gas canisters at them.
The coalition members, including popular artiste, Mr. Charles Oputa, aka Charlie Boy; and the protest convener, Deji Adeyanju, initially resisted the water cannons, but later bowed to the tear gas, which eventually terminated the sit-out.

Motorists and commuters on the Shehu Shagari Way also got a dose of the assault as the operatives fired several tear gas canisters towards the road, forcing many motorists to wind up their glasses while those walking ran for safety.

Adeyanju chided the government for unleashing the police on harmless citizens demanding to know the health status of their President.

He argued that Buhari was not a private citizen, noting that it was within the people’s right to demand and know the status of their President.

He said, “This government only has a hammer, so everything appears to be a nail. They do not understand that the people have the right to ask about the health status of the President.

“The President is not a private citizen; he is a public official elected by the people and he is accountable to the people of Nigeria.”

He described the attack by the police as barbaric, adding that protesters would not be deterred by the assault.

Adeyanju said, “Tomorrow (Wednesday), the sit-out continues at Unity Fountain and we urge other Nigerians to join us as we continue to ask the right questions.”

Reacting to the Presidency’s statement that it was disrespectful of the protesters to demand Buhari’s health status, the activist said it was also “disrespectful of the President to leave this country for 93 straight days without informing us. I believe Nigerians are taking note of all these, and in due course, we will pay them back in their own coin.”

Also, Charly Boy said the groups would not back down on the demand for the President’s resumption or resignation.
Oputa described the Senate as a monumental failure for allegedly failing to demand details of Buhari’s ailment.

Oputa, in a statement by media consultant to the group, Ezrel Tabiowo, described Senate’s criticism of the protesters as “outright ridiculous,” saying the upper chamber of the National Assembly had demonstrated that it was nothing but a rubber stamp of the executive arm of government.

He said, “I am disappointed in this country. But let it be known that no amount of intimidation by security agencies will deter us from demanding explanations from government. They must be accountable to Nigerians because they were elected into power by us.”

#OURMUMUDONDO: POLICE INJURE 'RETURN OR RESIGN' PROTESTERS

One person was injured on Tuesday in Abuja when policemen fired tear gas canisters at protesters demanding the return of President Muhammadu Buhari who had been on medical leave in London, United Kingdom since May 2017.
The wounded citizen was taken to a clinic at the Federal Secretariat complex, a few kilometres from the scene of the incident.

But the extent of his injuries could not be immediately ascertained.
The coalition members were having their sit-out at the Millennium park opposite the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja when the armed policemen fired tear gas canisters to disperse them.
The participants, however, braved the assault and continued with their meeting for about an hour.

The protesters who are members of about four civil society organizations were demanding that Buhari should return to the country or resign if he was incapacitated.

RELATED: #OURMUMUDONDO: PROTESTERS DEMAND RESIGNATION OF BUHARI [PHOTOS]

Breaking ! Massive Protest at INEC HQ Makurdi , as Ushongo Youths demand conduct of election into Ushongo And Mbagwa Constituencies. [VIDEO]

Hundreds of youths from Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State today stormed the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Makurdi in protest demanding that the electoral body conduct elections into two state constituencies in the area as ordered by the law courts.
read more