The Presidency has revealed that the Federal government is monitoring the organizers of the #FearlessInOctober protest scheduled for Tuesday, October 1, to ensure that it does not snowball into riots.
The #FearlessInOctober protest is an offshoot of the #EndBadGovernance protests, which held across the country in August, against excruciating hardship, hunger and poverty arising from government policies.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, said though government is not against Nigerians exercising their rights to protest, security agencies are already engaging some of the organizers.
“Government is not against any peaceful protest by Nigerians. After all, it is their fundamental right to stage any protest. But the government is always apprehensive of such protests degenerating into a riot as we experienced in August or the 2020 EndSARS protest in many parts of the country,” Onanuga said.
He emphasized that the organisers were being monitored to ensure they do not create chaos in the nation.
“Security agencies have been discussing with some of the organisers and they are being monitored so that they do not plunge the country into chaos or allow themselves to be used by internal and external forces which want to subvert the country and the 16-month-old administration.”
Onanuga further stated that the President Bola Tinubu administration has not denied the difficulties faced by Nigerians, adding that the reforms embarked upon by the administration have started yielding dividends based on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“The government wishes to assure Nigerians that there is already light at the end of tunnel and seeks the patience and understanding of our compatriots,” he added.