August 1 Protest: Organizers Rejects IGP’s Proposal For Confined Protests, Insist On Street Processions

Organizers of the upcoming #EndBadGovernance nationwide demonstrations, scheduled for August, have rejected the suggestion from Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to hold confined protests.

During a meeting on Tuesday, the IGP recommended holding protests in designated areas and advised against street rallies.

However, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), a lawyer for the Take It Back Movement—one of the groups organizing the protests—dismissed the IGP’s proposal.

The virtual meeting was attended by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), other lawyers, civil society organizations, and several key figures involved in planning the protests.

The planned protests against economic hardship, which are gaining traction on social media, have been scheduled to be held across all states of the Federation as well as the nation’s capital Abuja in August.

Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation rates and economic crises sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.

The police, military, and the Department of State Services had warned against Kenya-styled protests. Politicians, who surmised that the planned rallies might end up like the EndSARS demonstrations of October 2020, have continued to appeal to youths to shelve the planned rallies but the young people remain unfazed, doggedly insisting that the protests will hold.

Adegboruwa, one of the lawyers for the protesters, had on July 26, 2024, written the IGP to provide police coverage for protesters.

The IGP, in his response letter dated July 29, 2024, directed senior police officers to attend to the request of the senior lawyer.

Egbetokun subsequently requested to meet with Adegboruwa in Abuja on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, “to deliberate further” on his request.

However, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria opted for a virtual meeting with the police boss, enlisting Falana, members of the NBA, and others to attend the meeting.

Adegboruwa highlighted some of the points of convergence for the protests as Eagle Square, Abuja; Alausa Park, Lagos; Akpakpava Lane, Benin City; School of Agric, Bauchi; Rosewale Filling Station, Iwo Road, Ibadan; Maiduguri Roundabout, opposite State Stadium, Damaturu, Yobe State; Rainbow Roundabout and Pantani Stadium, River and Freedom Park, Osogbo.

Egbetokun at Tuesday’s meeting said some persons calling for violence during the forthcoming protests have been arrested.

After the IGP’s proposal, Adegboruwa said there would be street processions before protesters converged at specific locations sent to the police.

Also, Adegboruwa said the attention of the police should be focused on thugs and groups threatening fire and brimstone. He said the organizers cannot give a specific number of people who would participate in the protests as Nigerians have been invited to join the rallies.

The senior lawyer assured the IGP that the organizers were not destructive.

Egbetokun subsequently said the police would provide security cover for protesters at confined locations sent to the Force Headquarters.

The police boss added that if Commissioners of Police in states across the Federation have enough manpower, they could deploy their men to guard protesters during street processions.