Hardship protests: We’ll resist violence in Rivers, CP says

• We would not be part of demonstrations, Ohanaeze youths insist
• A’Ibom CP urges organisers to declare routes, warns against hijack

The Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, CP Olatunji Disu, has given assurance that the command is fully prepared to prevent any breakdown of law and order in the state during the proposed nationwide hardship protest scheduled for August 1 to 10, 2024.

Disu emphasised that officers and men of the command have undergone rigorous training and re-training to handle any situation that may arise during the protests in a highly professional manner, ensuring the safety and security of citizens, as well as the maintenance of public order.

The CP, who made the disclosure in Port Harcourt, added that operatives on essential duties have been withdrawn to boost security operations.

Disu said that the police hierarchy in the state had since been sitting with critical stakeholders in various communities of the state to avoid drawing a line between the police and the people, stressing that the Police and the people are all facing the same hardship in the country.

Disu said: “We have been having meetings with a lot of our stakeholders in our communities, and more meetings have been slated ahead.

“On the side of the police, our men have been prepared. We have talked to them again and again. Most importantly, we don’t want it to be a situation of ‘We versus Them,’ because we are all in this together.”

MEANWHILE, Igbo youths, yesterday, said they would not be part of the August 1 to 10 proposed nationwide protests over the current economic hardship in the country.

Hundreds of Igbo youths drawn from Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states, who converged under the auspices of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) in Enugu, insisted that participating in the protests may exacerbate ethnic tensions and create more divisions, which could harm the South East interest.

They, however, demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who has been detained since 2021, as well as other youths languishing in prisons across the country.

The National President of OYC, Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, who read the communiqué of the meeting attended by leaders of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), stated that the South East had been protesting every Monday in the last two years, insisting that “more protests will cause more injuries to our people, our region and our economy.”

ALSO, in Akwa Ibom State, the Police Commissioner, CP Waheed Ayilara, has called on organisers to furnish the state command with information on routes and places of convergence before August 1 to ensure adequate security.

Ayilara made this known in a statement he issued in Uyo, the state capital.

The CP said that the directive is in compliance with the order from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, that all organisers of the protest should give details of their activities to their respective police commands for the purpose of security arrangements before the commencement date.

The CP urged both the organisers and those embarking on the protest to cooperate with the police towards ensuring that it is carried out peacefully without being hijacked by unscrupulous persons.