BREAKING: Organizers of the #EndSARS Anniversary Parade in Lagos have chosen a car procession
The organizers of the #EndSARS Anniversary have chosen a car procession in Lagos.
Touchaheart reports that organisers of the #ENDSARS anniversary protests in Lagos said on Tuesday they would embark on a two-hour car procession through the Lekki Tollgate.
This online news platform understands that the decision followed the insistence of the Police Command on its ”no street protests” in any part of the state.
Two of the organisers — Folarin Falana and Adebowale Adedayo — made this known via social media posts yesterday Falana, a musician popularly known as Falz, is the son of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and rights activist, Femi Falana, Adedayo is a comedian known as Mr Macoroni.
The Abuja protests will be led by the 2019 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, and an activist, Deji Adeyanju.
Falala and Adedayo, who used their various platforms to share fliers about the carpool billed to hold between 8 am and 10 am today, explained that the decision was to prevent security forces from harassing participants.
They vowed that the youth cannot be silenced and would not be forced to forget those who lost their lives last October 20.
Urging Nigerians with vehicles to join the protests, Falana said it was impossible not to “memorialise our fallen heroes.”
He wrote:
“We will never ever forget that innocent Nigerian citizens waved flags and sang till they were shot at, injured, and killed.
“We must never forget. We are rolling up in cars tomorrow to drive through the tollgate. We know their way, so a procession of cars is the safest option to minimize police harassment.
“We will stay in our vehicles throughout. We have rides for people that need them. Each and everyone’s safety is very important so please let’s move together.”
His father, Femi Falana, lend his voice to the protests, saying that if there was no provocation by the government today, there would be no violence in any part of the country. ….
Sowore, in a brief interview with The Nation, said ”We will commence the protest at the Unity Fountain, Abuja by 8 in the morning.”
Adeyanju, who confirmed that the protests would begin from the Unity Fountain, added: “ I don’t think we need to inform the police about the protests.”
The Nation observed that organisers in states including as Lagos, Abia, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kwara, Oyo, Ondo, Plateau, and Rivers have prepared preparations for the protests based on leaflets that went popular on social media.
Oyo protestors will congregate at the Iwo Road Underbridge and Ojoo Roundabout, while Edo demonstrators will congregate at Museum Ground in Benin’s Kings Square.
Protesters from Kwara will gather at Challenge Junction, with the candlelight march taking place at Point Post Office Under Bridge.
Protesters in Enugu are expected to gather in Okpara Square. Protesters in Rivers State will converge on Port Harcourt’s Waterlines.
Protesters in Adamawa State will gather at the Bekaji Parliament in Yola, while those in Bayelsa will gather along Etegwe NIIT Road By Boro-pit in Yenagoa.
Also yesterday, Falana (SAN) informed reporters that if the demonstrators were not instigated by the government, there would be no violence.
“I can tell you if there is no provocation by the government tomorrow (today), there will be no violence in the country,” he said during the comparative lecture and public presentation of remaking Nigeria: Sixty Years, Sixty Voices.
The theme of the lecture was “One Year After #ENDSARS, 35 Years After Dele Giwa and The Quest to Remake Nigeria.”
Falana added;
“If you also recall what happened last year, the violence was instigated by the government and sponsored by the government. I am sure you saw some of the criminal elements in Abuja who were ferried all over the place shooting at protesters.”
“In Alausa here, a busload of thugs armed to the teeth were unleashed on protesters so if the government does not want to cause violence, rallies will take place peacefully,”
The Delta State Government announced intentions to pay N102,450,000 to victims of police brutality and human rights violations in the state as “incidental claims” yesterday.
Mr. Patrick Ukah, the Secretary to the State Government, stated in a statement yesterday that the payments would be issued “in due time.”
