Buhari ignores Northern protests against insecurity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Muhammadu Buhari ignored rising Northern protests on Thursday and jetted off to Turkey, three days after his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo reiterated the view across Nigeria that the President is not capable to do more than he has done.
Buhari, in the lame duck season of his second term, now gallivants the world to enjoy himself. He neglects to tackle complex issues like insecurity, joblessness, and inflation – and simple ones like him signing the Electoral Amendment Bill.
His junket to Istanbul is the ninth in the past three months alone.
It comes after his travels to
- New York (September)
- Adis Ababa (October)
- Riyadh (October)
- Scotland (October)
- London (November)
- Paris (November)
- Pretoria (November)
- Dubai (December)
Obasanjo’s latest dig at Buhari
“Buhari has done his best. That is what he can do. If we are expecting anything more than what he has done or what he is doing, that means we’re whipping a dead horse and there is no need …,” Obasanjo said on Monday in Abuja.
“How do we prepare for post-Buhari? Buhari has done his best. My prayer is that God will spare his life to see his term through.
“What should we do to make post-Buhari better than what we have now? That is our responsibility now, because it concerns all of us.”
Northern youths launch online petition against Buhari
Youths from Buhari’s backyard in the North are rallying against him in the thousands, having got fed up with his incompetence and laziness, empitomised by his failure to rein in Islamists in the region who terrorise citizens.
The youths are organising protests under the hashtags #SecureNorth and #NorthisBleeding.
On Tuesday, they converged on Kofar Soro roundabout near the Emir’s place in Katsina. They carried placards and made speeches. Before they finished, they were dispersed by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS).
But the protesters are not deterred. They congregated in Kano and Abuja on Wednesday. Apart from marching on the streets, they had launched a petition on Change.Org on Monday.
The petition seeks the declaration of a state of emergency in Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, and other Northern states and has garnered more than 28,000 signatures.
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Police arrest protesters in Abuja
The PUNCH reports that police disrupted the peaceful protest by the Northern youths in Abuja and arrested seven people, including two journalists. The two journalists were later released.
The protesters had converged on the Nigerian Labour House popularly known as Ayuba Wabba House, demanding an end to insecurity in the North.
Some of their placards read: “Buhari is a weak Army General”; “Northern region is bleeding”, “Buhari is sleeping; “How many have to die in the North before Buhari is asked to resign?”
Busayo Tosin, one of the journalists arrested and released, told The PUNCH: “Some police officers approached me to ask those who were protesting. I told them I am a journalist.
“I came here to work, and they arrested about five protesters. They walked up to me and asked me to get into their vehicle. I did. They checked my camera to see what I had recorded.
“I was then driven to the Gudu police station and we were being questioned. We were about to write a statement when we were later informed that we would be transferred to the command. We were later released after the intervention of a DCP.’’
Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, who joined the protest, asked Buhari to end insecurity in the country or resign.
“He came in with the promise that as a retired army General he would protect Nigerians, today he has failed to do so.
“A lot of people are being killed between Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamafra every night. Our prayers are with those who are living in the North,” Sowore said.
Security agents stop protest in Kano
In Kano, police and DSS officers barricaded the gate of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat to stop protesters from entering the premises.
Several security vehicles with personnel dressed in anti-riot outfits took over the main gate and the road leading to the secretariat as the protesters assembled at a distance.
After an agreement with the security personnel, the protesters marched to the gate of the NUJ but were not allowed in as the gate was locked.
The officer in charge, who did not identify himself, advised the protesters to adopt due process whenever they want to stage peaceful protests to avoid thugs taking over the protest.
Jamilu Charanchi, North West Coordinator of Coalition of Northern Groups, read out a communiqué at the NUJ gate which said in part:
“The current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and all the 36 governors have failed totally in the major areas of providing security of lives and properties of citizens and ensuring a secure economic environment in the North in particular.”
Over 3,125 people have been killed and 2,703 abducted in the North in the past 11 months.
Rights activists express support for protesters
Human rights activists have expressed support for the agitations and asked the security agencies to stop harassing and arresting peaceful protesters demanding accountability and better living conditions.
Those who spoke up on Wednesday include Amnesty International, Aisha Yesufu (Co-Convener of the #BringBackOurGirls), and Middle Belt Forum (MBF) National President Bitrus Pogu.
Amnesty International
“Amnesty International received disturbing reports from Bauchi, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto on arrests and crackdown by the police and the DSS on peaceful protests against rampant insecurity in northern Nigeria.
“We call on Nigerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested for exercising the right to freedom of assembly.
“The DSS must stop using ‘invitations’ to threaten and intimidate protest organisers,” Amnesty said in tweets.
Aisha Yesufu
“Nigerians have a constitutional right to come out to protest. It is quite shameful that the DSS are not going after killers. They are only going after protesters.
“It is the government that hires hoodlums to hijack protests. They use security operatives to ferry hoodlums to protests. We saw this during #EndSARS when military and police vehicles were used in ferrying hoodlums,” Yesufu told The PUNCH.
“I can tell you categorically that 99.9 per cent of protests that end up in violence are usually manipulated by security agents and the government. They are the ones that hijack protests when they should go against the bandits.
“When they say hoodlums will hijack, it is the government that is behind it. They do it to prevent protests. What is a hoodlum’s business with protests?
“It is when the government pays them that hoodlums go to attack protesters, so when the DSS foolishly tells protesters that there will be a hijack, you wonder what their job is. Is it not to protect protesters?”
Bitrus Pogu
Pogu condemned the use of security agents by the government to stifle protest against insecurity in the North, saying it confirms that the regime of Buhari is fast becoming totally undemocratic and totalitarian.
He told The PUNCH that it is wrong for security agents to stop people from protesting against unpleasant situations when protest is the only weapon they have to express themselves in a democracy.
