From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest continued in several parts of Benin City on Sunday with the protesters mounting barricades on the road and extorting motorists before allowing them to pass in some areas.
At Agho junction on Ekehuan road, the protesters barricaded the road and mounted plastic chairs on the road where they conducted Church service clapping, singing and dancing while praising God and calling for an end to bad governance as they prevented vehicles from plying the road.
The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), coordinators of the protest in Edo, on Friday, readjusted the protesting time to between 8 am and 4 pm daily to enable traders to open their businesses to customers.
Yesterday, there was no protest at King’s Square, the official designated venue for the protest while there were no blockades on the Benin-Agbor road and Ramat Square which were usually manned by protesters, even as soldiers in convoys were seen patrolling the major roads in the state to clear any barricade by protesters.
The Coordinator, Edo State Civil Society Organisations, Agho Omobude, who spoke to journalists, said the protest is for 10 days and would continue as the President failed to address the protesters’ demands.
“The protest now is operation hold your area. People are now protesting in their own streets. As you can see, we are protesting at Agho junction, on the Ekehuan road.
“As you can see, we are holding Church service on the road. Protesters are praying, we want to do communion in the service right now.
“Protests are also going on in other streets and it is 10 days of protest, today is the fourth day”.
Omobude, stated that President Bola Tinubu’s broadcast was empty and did not assuage the protesters, adding “The President should have given Nigerians a speech of hope but gave us a speech of hopelessness and frustration. He has worsened the living conditions of Nigerians.
“Today is the fourth and the protest will continue and when the President is ready he should come and address us, we will wait for him”.
The state Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, said yesterday that there was no attack or loss of life since the commencement of the protest. “Nobody is injured, no death, no casualties in the state, and that is what we want”, he said and commended the protesters for their civil and peaceful conduct.
He condemned the actions of some individuals who he said were deviating from the protest agenda by setting up illegal roadblocks and extorting money from members of the public.
“We discovered that some people are regrouping in some other locations where they are carrying out illegal activities like extortion of money from motorists and other members of the public. This is not how to protest. We should not spoil the good work we have started on this protest.
Adegboye stated “Anybody seen blocking the road in other places apart from the designated venue for the protest which is the King’s Square will be treated as a looter or hoodlum, and we don’t want to start using maximum force on them.
“So people are advised to go about their lawful businesses while those that want to protest should please go to the King’s Square, which is the designated area for protesters where we have people protesting peacefully and in a modern way.
“The only roadblock mounted by police at the King’s Square was intended to prevent the protesters from any attacks by suspected hoodlums”, he explained.
He said other states are emulating Edo’s organized peaceful approach and urged the protesters to continue in that spirit, warning that any unscrupulous element found carrying out attack or looting under the guise of protest would be treated as criminal.