• Youths, residents murmur, say they are dying in hunger
• Lagos Igbo groups disassociate from protest, say it’s ill-timed
• Don’t use force against protesters, CLO urges govt, security officials
Stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have kicked against the planned nationwide protest, saying that its 10-point demand failed to capture the needs and issues troubling the region.
Some of the stakeholders, such as the National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Emmanuel Essien, the President of Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Jonathan Lokpobiri, renowned Niger Delta activists, Ann Kio Briggs, Asari Dokubo, and others, spoke in Port Harcourt, yesterday, at the Niger Delta Sensitisation Conference for ethnic nationalities, youths and women, themed, ‘Come Let Us Build Together,’ organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
However, while the leaders took their turn to explain why the people of the region should not participate in the protest, majority of the youths, women and other residents, who attended the conference, rebuffed and murmured, saying: “Hungry dey, hungry dey, una don collect and want us to continue wallowing in pain, poverty and hunger.”
PANDEF National Chairman, Essien, while trying to convince the people to abstain from the protest, said: “Tough times never last but tough people do.”
He noted that other regions failed to join the Niger Deltans in the past when they protested and earned the NDDC and the 13 per cent derivation.
Also, attempting to convince the people not to join the protest, the IYC President said: “Nigeria today cannot afford a chaotic situation again,” recalling that the #EndSARS protest was chaotic.
Ann-kio Briggs pointed out that the region has suffered negative effects of protests in the past, calling for constructive dialogue to address the region’s numerous challenges.
Asari-Dokubo, on his part, declared that he is anti-protest because the needs of the region were not accommodated in the protest demands, warning that anyone who takes the protest to his area will ‘collect’.
SIMILARLY, a coalition of Igbo political and socio-cultural groups in Lagos State has distanced itself and the entire Ndigbo in Lagos from the planned nationwide hardship protest.
Speaking on behalf of the 16 political and socio-cultural groups that formed the coalition at a press briefing, yesterday, in Lagos, the coordinator of the group, Anselm Njoku, described some of the persons pushing for the protest as faceless elements, who are partly using Igbo nomenclatures to fan the embers of unsound agitation.
He said that Nigerians should develop the culture of dialogue with the government and deploy constructive criticism without recourse to unnecessary provocative protest and violence.
ALSO, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has cautioned the Federal Government and security agencies against the use of force and violence to stop the proposed national protest by youths.
It also appealed to the protesters to be peaceful and conduct themselves in a lawful manner.
Executive Director of the group, Ibuchukwu Ezike, in a statement in Enugu, recalled that the #EndSARS national protest a few years ago turned violent and bloody arising from the untoward behaviour of overzealous security officers.
He said: “CLO maintains that protests across the world are legitimate and democratic expressions by the citizens against their governments in the event of implementation of wicked, heinous and anti people policies like it is the case in Nigeria. Today, things have fallen apart and the centre can no longer hold. Nigerian families are starving but refuse dumps are filled with leftovers by their families and dogs.
