Nigerians Protest Against Buhari Amidst Independent Celebration
61st Independence Day protesters. Photo: Solomon Odeniyi
As the nation marked its 61st independence anniversary on Friday, some protesters, with placards bearing ‘Buhari Must Go’, trooped to the streets of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, to show their grievances over the state of the nation.
Also, in some parts of the South-East, the sit-at-home order by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra witnessed considerable compliance as residents stayed indoors, despite repeated declarations by governors in the region that people should disregard the directive.
These, coupled with killings across the country particularly in the North, tainted the country’s 61st Independence anniversary.
During the protest in Abuja, no fewer than five Buhari-must-go protesters were arrested by policemen.
The protesters had in the early hours of the day stormed the Dantata Bridge on the popular Airport Road in Abuja, calling for the resignation of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
They were, however, dispersed by heavily armed policemen who fired tear gas at them. The policemen also chased some of them.
However, one of the protesters told our correspondent that the policemen arrested five persons and brutalised them.
He said, “We and other young Nigerians were demanding an end to insecurity and bad governance in the country along Airport Road on Friday when some policemen came and violently dispersed us with teargas.
“They chased us into a nearby bush and caught up with five of the protesters. They brutalised them before taking them to the Galadimawa Divisional Police Division with their patrol vans. There are others whose whereabouts are unknown for now.”
When contacted, the police spokesperson for the FCT Command, Josephine Adeh, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, promised to get back to our correspondent, but she had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
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