Organisers disown Adegboruwa, say protests will continue till FG meets demands

The Director of Mobilization for the Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, a non-governmental organization, made this announcement during an interview.

In an intriguing development, Adenola stated that human rights lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa does not represent their group, despite the Senior Advocate of Nigeria having reached out to security agencies seeking protection for the demonstrators ahead of the rallies.

The youth activist emphasized that their group will not halt the 10-day protests, dismissing Adegboruwa’s calls to do so due to concerns that infiltrators might cause chaos during the demonstrations.

He noted that the protests could extend beyond ten days depending on the government’s response.

Adenola stated, “Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa is not our lawyer and does not speak on our behalf. While he may present himself as a solicitor, he is not in need like the people on the streets.”

“We are awaiting a response from the government regarding our demands, and until that happens, the protests will continue,” he said. He added that although their concerns have not yet been addressed, the protests have made a statement to the current government.

He indicated that these demonstrations are empowering Nigerians to hold their leaders accountable.

When asked if the protests were being funded by any organization, he said the true sponsors are hunger and the economic struggles faced by the people.

Adenola further expressed that if the Federal Government were genuinely concerned about the people’s hardship, the President would have already addressed the protesters’ demands.

Amid the protests, which began yesterday, August 1, 2024, and are set to continue through August 10 across various states and in the nation’s capital, Abuja, police forcefully dispersed demonstrators—primarily youths—using tear gas, drawing condemnation from civil society organizations (CSOs).

The protests took a troubling turn when some individuals looted public and private properties, prompting state governments in Kano, Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Nasarawa, and Jigawa to impose curfews in volatile areas to mitigate the violence and looting.

Reports, including claims from Amnesty International, indicate fatalities and violence, including the death of a police officer, injuries to others, and the burning of police stations.

The protests, fueled by soaring prices of food and essential goods amid one of Nigeria’s worst inflation crises—exacerbated by the government’s policies on petrol subsidy removal and foreign exchange unification—have unmet demands that include restoring petrol subsidies, reforming the forex system, addressing food shortages and unemployment, cutting wasteful government spending, reducing the size of the President’s cabinet, and enacting immediate reforms within the electoral body INEC and anti-corruption agency EFCC with a renewed focus on combating corruption among politicians.