(Pictures) June 12 Protest: Security Operatives Barricade N’Assembly Gate
Security operatives on Thursday morning barricaded the main gate of the National Assembly complex in Abuja to prevent protesters from accessing the venue. The protest, organised by the Take It Back Movement and several civil society groups, is part of nationwide demonstrations marking June 12, Nigeria’s Democracy Day. Organisers had said the protest is aimed at spotlighting what they describe as “two years of misrule, hardship, and insecurity” under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The organisers had moved the protest to the national assembly, where President Bola Tinubu is expected to address a joint session of the National Assembly as part of the Democracy Day celebrations. Speaking on the eve of the protest, the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, said the decision to converge at the National Assembly did not change the focus of the protest. “That we earlier said the protest would hold at Eagle Square doesn’t foreclose the fact that Nigerians cannot organise themselves at the National Assembly to protest the two years of misrule under Tinubu. “The unprecedented hardship and insecurity we have experienced under his government are alarming. So Nigerians will be turning out nationwide to protest against this, and the National Assembly is one of those spaces Nigerians can exercise their constitutional rights. We are encouraging Nigerians to move there in their numbers tomorrow,”he said. Getting to the venue, our correspondent observed a heavy presence of security personnel, including operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and armed police officers, stationed at the National Assembly gate. The entrance was also reinforced with iron barricades as well as a long truck, preventing access to the premises. As at the time of filing this report, the atmosphere remained tense. Punch