TUC President, Festus Osifo, briefs journalists in Abuja on July 25, 2024 | Image: Channelstv
‘Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation and economic crises’
By Valentine Amanze
All appears set for the 10-day nationwide protest against hunger and bad government, which begins on August 1, 2024 as the Trade Union Congress (TUC) urges the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to provide security cover for the demonstrators.
This is despite the federal government’s ongoing lobbying of monarchs and clerics to stop the angry youths from embarking on the protest codenamed, ‘‘End bad governance.’’
While government authorities have called on the organisers to shelve the demonstrations, claiming it is politically motivated, the TUC feels otherwise.
Briefing journalists in Abuja on Thursday, the TUC President, Festus Osifo, said the the Police were mandated by the Police Act and the constitution to provide adequate security for protesters.
He pointed out that adequate protection was necessary to ensure that the planned protest was not hijacked by hoodlums.
Also read: Tinubu’s aide urges Nigerian youths to shun protest
His words: “As Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, we have been involved in several protests. We are also happy with some of the comments that we are hearing from different quarters assuring that when the protests do take place, these people will be protected.
“We don’t want a situation whereby the protest goes on and at the end of the day, it leads to violence. We want to hereby call on the Inspector General of Police and the entire security agencies to do everything possible to provide security for whoever intends to carry out protests so such protests do not degenerate into chaos.”
Meanwhile, prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation and economic crises sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.
valoa2000@yahoo.com
