Protest: ‘N52 billion worth of looting a setback to entrepreneurs, investments’

• Mbah, Umahi commend South-east for shunning protests
• Protest continues on Monday, Sowore insists

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, has lamented the looting of businesses and livelihoods that took place in some states at the weekend.

Saying that the loss of 21 lives is saddening, she condemned the miscreants who used the opportunity of the protest to loot businesses and people’s homes.

According to her, approximately N52 billion worth of goods were looted, or destroyed.

Describing this as a severe setback for the economy and entrepreneurs, she said it does not help in the government’s drive to attract investments into the country to stimulate the economy.

Beyond the losses to businesses owing to looting, the Minister while calling for constructive dialogue from the protest leaders, noted that the overall economic sabotage to the country was over N500 billion. She listed 15 states with cases of violence, regretting that economic activities were affected in those states.

In the same vein, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, and the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, have commended the South-east zone for heeding the call not to join in the nationwide protests. Both leaders spoke on Sunday during an inspection tour of various road projects by the Federal Government and the Enugu State Government on the Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Abakaliki, and Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressways.

Speaking to newsmen, Mbah and Umahi said the people of the region had by shunning the protests in the Southeast and beyond prevented needless loss of Igbo lives, businesses, and property, while also showing good faith with the President Bola Tinubu administration.

However, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore, has said the #EndBadGovernance protest would continue on Monday.

Sowore, in a post on X, asked the protesters to match towards Ojota before proceeding to Alausa, the Lagos State secretariat. “Please be aware that the #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria action will resume fully tomorrow across Nigeria and in several parts of Lagos-Lekki Toll Gate, Alausa Secretariat, former Lagos Toll Gate, Ketu, LASU Gate, Abule Egba, FESTAC Town, and several other centres,” he said.

Organisers of the protests have expressed disappointment with President Tinubu’s assertions during the nationwide broadcast speech. The organisers said the president’s speech demonstrated that he is out of touch with reality in the country.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Sunday, the National Coordinator of Youth Rights Campaign, Micheal Lenin, said the President only justified state violence on protesters and journalists and dismissed the demands of the protesters.

Emiola Osifeso, representing the Take It Back Movement, stated that the president’s claim that the protests are politically motivated showed a deep disconnection from the masses. Osifeso said the protest was the lawful response of the Nigerian people to the failure of the government to address the hardship experienced by the citizens.