Police, pro-Buhari group stop BBOG march to presidential villa

Officers of the Nigeria Police and a pro-Buhari group yesterday prevented the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) protesters from marching to the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Oby Ezekwesili-led group had met at the Unity Fountain to proceed with its planned march but were stopped by police officers.

A police officer, Abiodun Alamatu, informed Ezekwesili that he had orders to stop the protesters from embarking on a march. He said the group could not hold the protest until they presented an official permission approving the action.

After the group had presented acknowledged copies of letters submitted to the police on the march, they were allowed to proceed. They were later stopped by a police deputy commissioner, M. D. Garba, who did not disclose the reasons for the blockade.

The BBOG group, however, marched through the barricade to the entrance of the presidential villa where they met a pro-Buhari group.

While speaking on behalf of the pro-Buhari group, Idris King condemned the actions of the BBOG crusaders. He said: “They were only using the case of the Chibok girls as a scam.”

King said President Buhari was doing everything possible to rescue the missing schoolgirls alive.

The police prevented a clash between the two groups.

Another top member of the BBOG group, Dr. Emman Shehu condemned the action of the security operatives by disrupting the march.

He said: “Our view is that they are misguided. They still fail to understand what democracy is all about. If we have a permit to march, nobody can stop us. As far as I am concerned, there is sycophancy and lack of understanding of the relationship between the citizens and the leadership in our democracy.”

“They need to understand that, otherwise, they will continue to make themselves a laughing stock in the world,” Shehu added.