Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A group, Civil Society Group for Peace, Justice and Development, has pleaded with the security agents and the judiciary to come hard on the RevolutionNow protesters.
Hinging its appeal on the claim that the convener, Omoyele Sowore and his group, over time, have preached hate through call for revolution which they lack basic understanding of, the group urged the audition concerned to fished out and punished decisively those behind the protest.
The convener, Comrade Yusuf Yahuza, who read from a prepared speech at a press conference, frowned at the protesters for defying COVID-19 safety measures, insisting that he has on good authority that the protesters were sponsored by opposition politicians to distract the government.
“We wish to express our worries over a clandestine, hate orchestrated and cheap blackmail of protest called upon by some microscopic elements in some states including the FCT of a revolution protest.
“We had initially wished to keep mute and watch things unfold, but for the sake of some few vulnerable individuals who may fall vulnerable for this antic which is a stoke in trade for the perpetrators, we wish to condemn it in its entirety and call for more decisive action across board to stem the tide and put an end to such evil.
“Omoyele Sowore and his RevolutionNow group have over time preached hate through a call for revolution which we believe they lack basic understanding of. It should be on record that the sovereignty and integrity of Nigeria comes first above any other interest and individuals like Sowore and his bandwagon at Revolution Now should stop using the word because they lack understanding of such words as it portends a negatively on them and their followers.
“An infantile Sowore in thought and his supporters who barely had less than 35,000 votes in the last general elections against the President who polled about 15 million votes signifying his acceptability and national thrust should indicate to sane Nigerians that Sowore and his group have lost it, and therefore resort to the cheap word “revolution” which we believe they don’t understand. How can you revolt against the government to create a government inside a sovereign government? God forbid.
“While we understand that their antics won’t last long, we wish to make Nigerians especially the DSS, Police, and other security agencies including the Judiciary to note that there is a daunting challenge which need to he nipped in the bud before it affects the whole system, if not, how will individuals taken to the court on the same issue disobey flagrantly the court to organize individuals and stage a protest. Is this not “contempt of court proceedings”?
“Are they individuals in question now above the law? Justice must be served decisively against such individuals to prevent a reoccurrence of such in the future. Permit me to also state that while the federal and state government including spirited individuals and private organizations are busy trying their best to confront the challenges of infection and spread of Corona virus, the group disobeyed the laid down guidelines of congregation, and non adherence to protocol as most participants were not in possession of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE), and therefore posed bigger challenges for the government as those exposed must be traced and isolated, and such will result in loss of economic and financial values, even when the issue could have been easily avoided. “More worrisome is the fact that while government is busy making efforts towards bettering the lot of Nigeria and Nigerians, we have it on good authority that the protesters were sponsored by Opposition politicians to distract the government.
“It is quite unfortunate to say the least as we expect that after many years of monumental failures; they should be sober and reflective, allowing the government of the day to deliver on its mandate of security, economic empowerment, social development, peace and justice amongst others.
“Though we understand the global challenges on ground with Nigeria not an exception, we cannot claim ignorance of the many good efforts of the government towards making Nigeria work again. This can only be achieved if groups like RevolutionNow and their sponsors are fished out and punished decisively. Nigeria is not a banana republic and individuals who see it as such must be made to face the relevant section of the law,” the group charged security agents.