….”June 12 protests are sponsored” – Idahosa
Nigerians have taken to the streets across some States in the southern region, protesting insecurity, unemployment, grinding poverty, even as they demanded for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The protest was mainly by angry youths who defied Police warnings to take to the streets, especially in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo, Edo and Rivers States.
According to reports, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the Police fired teargas to disperse protesters at the Gudu area, where the protest there began around 8:30 am, with the youth chanting: ‘Buhari must go now!’ and with placards carrying a similar message. The protesters, however, ran helter-skelter when the Police arrived at the scene.
In Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, a report has it that some civil society groups gathered together to stage a protest in some parts of the city.
In Benin, Edo State, some angry youths blocked the First East-Circular Road, by Akpakpava Junction, using used tyres, thereby slowing down vehicular traffic.
In Oyo State, the Governor, Seyi Makinde, drove himself to the venue with little security and emerged amidst cheers and loud praises to address the protesters.
Meanwhile, a founding member of the All progressives Congress, (APC), Charles Idahosa has claimed that the ongoing June 12 protests are ‘sponsored’.
In an interview with newsmen, Idahosa, who is now in PDP, claimed that most of the problems plaguing the country at the moment were inherited from previous administrations. He stated that there will be no ‘Arab Spring’ in Nigeria.
“As far as I am concerned, these protests are totally uncalled for. Those who organised it are being sponsored. Yes, we know things are bad in the country and the economy is worse”.
“But the truth is that all the problems Buhari is confronting now were inherited from previous administrations, it didn’t just start in 2015. Since coming to office, Buhari has done so many positive things such as the revamping of the rail sector. I am very impressed with that, because if we can have a good rail network, there will be no danger when we travel on the highway.
“But like I have always said, Nigerians should learn to believe in the ballot box. If you are not happy with Buhari, instead of sponsoring criminal gangs to go and shoot the Police and burn down INEC offices in order to create an atmosphere of insecurity; why not wait till the next election in 2023 and vote out his party through the ballot? There will never be an Arab Spring in Nigeria, if that is what they are thinking”.
