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Anti-Jega protesters storm Lagos metropolis

By Bertram Nwannekanma
17 March 2015   |   4:43 am
Hundreds of protesters under the aegis of Coalition of Concerned Nigerians, which included members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation stormed the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the morning.

antiJegaAGITATION for the sack of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, which was started on Friday by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the South-East, heightened in Lagos yesterday with protesters calling for his immediate removal before the March 28 elections.

Hundreds of protesters under the aegis of Coalition of Concerned Nigerians, which included members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation stormed the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the morning.

They gathered at the 7UP/Toll Gate end of the expressway, chanting anti-Jega songs and distributing leaflets, which contained seven reasons why the INEC boss should be sacked.

Some of the protesters, suspected to be beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s SURE-P programme were also present.

There was heavy presence of policemen during the protest that lasted several hours, as the protesters headed for the National Stadium, Surulere, through Ikorodu Road, where they were expected to hold a rally.

Vehicular movement was brought to a halt while the protesters distributed their leaflets.

The leaflet also contained what the group described as the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan and why the he should be re-elected.

Commercial bus drivers cashed in on the heavy traffic build up along the highway that stretched as far as Gbagada and the Long Bridge on the expressway to hike transport fares.

3 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Agent of People Destruction Party (PDP) are protesting and calling for removal of INEC Chairman. How can right thinking Nigerians be calling for the removal of INEC Chairman at this hour when election is two weeks’ time. It is a ground work of PDP to scuttle the election again. We all need to be prayerful.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Good question. Plutocratic Desperado Party (PDP) is living up to it’s now infamous antics. What is sickening is the evil alliance between the PDP and secessionist (MASSOB) and anarchists (OPC and all the other fringe groups? And why would they do that, just so they can cause a civil war and balkanize the country – and anyone will tell me that Jonathan means well for Nigeria and he is a gentleman, what gentlemanly politician has all these bizarre alliances with anarchists, terrorists, secessionists to pillage the country? Luckily they are all a handful – we the masses outnumber them and would stay focused and allow them to have their 20 minutes of fame (sic) and then we would massively vote in Buhari who we have want as the new leader thereby sunset all these macabre dances in the market square.

  • Author’s gravatar

    “Live Free or Die” is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the state in 1945. Nigerians everywhere including the homeland adopts this slogan and memo to PDP and it’s unholy alliances with all the dregs of society (OPC, Niger Delta Militants, Boko Haram, Abacha boys)….we would liberate Nigerians peacefully through the ballot box from perpetual slavery, the same way our heroes past won our independence from Britain without firing a single shot – and move our country forward.

    We understand the motivations for Ganiyu Adams to put a little rent-a-crowd show together for the press and public. As severally reported in Nigerian media a “gift” of N7billion ($35million) he received from the ruling party, and a promise to be let in on Sheik Jonathan’s private oil deal is enough motivations to seek to have Prof. Jega removed for “having the audacity to put in place election rigging-safeguards leading that would allow credible elections” this year.

    However just so we are clear Prof. Jega stays and does his job and be allowed to do his job without fear or favor. We the people support him as he is doing a heroic job of ensuring a free, fair, transparent and credible election. A thorough review of his approach, tools, process, management and plans for free, fair, credible and transparent election this year is commendable and world class.

    It is very clear to the world that removing hm at this time, especially after the election was postponed one week to the initially scheduled time of February 14th, is tantamount to inciting the masses to war giving the stakes of this year’s election – a move that we the people will meet with a canvass for the freezing of the assets of every player in the current administration, from President Jonathan to those funding the PDP at all levels, in the USA, European Union and every member nation of the United Nations. we would also mobilize to have the sanctions include travel bans – Every one should be reminded of the current stance of the USA as communicated by Secretary Kerry when he visited Nigeria in January that anyone who contributes to violence in this election cycle would not be allowed into the USA – we would work hard on bringing that to effect on the actors and relatives of the regime of President Jonathan, the PDP at every level and those who sponsors the goading of the masses to violence which removing Prof. Jega would guarantee.

    We the people would work with every Nigerian and civil society & government world wide to show proof of the nexus that now seem to exist between PDP and every terrorist and militia in the land from Boko Haram, Niger Delta Militant, Oduaa peoples Congress, MASSOB (The secessionist group) thereby pushing hard to have all of them in the terror list which Boko Haram is part of already, as they now seem to work so closely and in unison in the hard push towards balkanizing Nigeria. Not a single Nigerian blood is worth shedding any longer and it is sad that as many Nigerians as the population of Liechtenstein (36,000) have been killed just in the hands of Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria alone – a stain on the sould of Nigeria’s leadership under President Goodluck Jonathan – even as the Niger Delta ex-militant are enabled by the presidency to be diverting the crude oil at more than 400,000 barrels of oil per day since 2011, thereby extracting more than $60billion (and counting) from Nigerian commonwealth into President Jonathan’s coffers – a massive daily operation that is still going on even as I type, 24x7x365 – and will continue if president Jonathan continues in office by hook-or-crook!

    Political assassinations of the like of Chief Bola Ige, a Minister of Justice and attorney General that was killed in office must not be activated by this government directly or through a false-flag operation. We are aware of such attempt on Gen. Buhari last year. By President Jonathan & the PDP whipping up all these fringe groups to call for Prof Jega’s removal for doing an excellent world class job, his safety & security should not be compromised, just as the safety & security of the opposition should not be compromised. These fringe violent extremists or militias should be stood down and the environment of hate against the persons of Prof. Jega, as well as, key members of the opposition, eliminated to forestall a situation where lynch-mobs are set on the prowl to harm them. President Jonathan and members of his party , if not for patriotic, humanistic reasons, should look at self-preservation and be well guided to act right. Any attempt to hurt any of the principal officers of the opposition and the election umpire would trigger the canvass for sanctions mentioned above to be activated on the regime of President Good luck Jonathan and major actors bent on balkanizing Nigeria through violence, just so the people cannot exercise their rights to freely choose who should represent them at every level.

    We the people are aware of the file that have been opened at the international court of justice based on Nigerian first lady, Mrs. Jonathan for inciting the masses to lynch members of the opposition, we see a connection between this incitement and this rent-a-mob going on against the election umpire and we ask President Jonathan to call home his dogs of war.