Organisers of the scheduled October 1 nationwide protest have written to the Nigeria Police Force seeking adequate security for their members.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Education Rights Campaign, ERC, Movement for Fundamental Change, MFC, Youth Rights Campaign, YRC, Joint Action Front, JAF, and Pan-African Consciousness Renaissance.
In a press briefing on Thursday, National Coordinator of ERC, Hassan Soweto, called on Nigerians to engage in peaceful protests against “anti-poor policies”.
The organizers noted that in Lagos, the protest will commence at Ikeja under bridge at 7:30am, with participants marching through various streets to raise awareness.
They also asked the Lagos State Commissioner of police, Olanrewaju Ishola, to provide adequate security for participants in line with the Police Establishment Act 2020.
“By this announcement, we inform the commissioner of police of our planned October action and remind the police of their obligation under Section 83 (4) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 to provide adequate security for citizens participating in public meetings, rallies, and protests.
“This action serves as a warning and urgent cry for President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address our demands immediately. If our demands are not met, more protests will follow the National Day of Survival.”
Giving reasons why the protest must hold, the organizers opined: “We invite you on another journey to redeem our nation as we continue to stand against the anti-poor policies of this regime.
“As is obvious to everyone, none of the demands of our ten days of rage in August has been met.
“Rather, President Tinubu simply went ahead to use our national treasury to procure luxury cars, aircraft and other luxuries for himself and the first family without caring a hoot about the plea of hungry Nigerians.
“To show the absolute disdain that the federal government holds for the people, Tinubu has gone ahead to unleash another round of hike in fuel price earlier this month.
“As we speak, the price of fuel hovers between N900 per litre to N1900 depending on which part of the country you are.
“Meanwhile, less than two years ago, a liter of fuel did not cost more than N200 per litre. This is outrageous. This is intolerable. As a direct consequence of this increment, life has become unbearable for many people.
“Many are starving as the increase in fuel price has also impacted food prices. Inflation has rendered the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage irrelevant and incapable of bringing any relief to workers.
“At the same time, the sharp rise in the cost of imported goods has rendered traders and shopkeepers redundant, as shops are overflowing with goods that no one is ready to buy.
“The situation has also affected businesses and industries. Nothing less than ten multinational firms have left the shores of Nigeria between May last year, leading to even more job losses.
“Based on the foregoing, we, of the #EndBadGovernance Movement, have decided to declare October 1 as‘National Day of Survival.
“On this day, we call on the people, workers, students, youth, unemployed, traders and the poor to come out in a peaceful protest against the excruciating hardship, poverty and hunger imposed on us by President Tinubu’s decision to implement IMF/World Bank-inspired anti-poor capitalist policies of fuel price hike, electricity tariff hike, school fees hike and naira devaluation.
“We also call on the people to utilise this day to demand with one voice, the immediate and unconditional release of all #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance protesters in police and prison custody, as well as freedom for detained journalists, whistleblowers, activists, and all victims of state repression.”
