- Michael Lenin, a central leader of the hunger protest demonstrations in the FCT was arrested
- Lenin took part in a press briefing with other organisers, where they voiced their displeasure with Tinubu’s Sunday broadcast
- Adenola said DSS raided Lenin’s home and assaulted him during the arrest
The Department of State Services (DSS) has taken into custody Michael Lenin, a central leader of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lenin was arrested at his residence in the Apo area of Abuja around 2 a.m. on Monday, August 4.
Lenin voiced his displeasure on Tinubu’s speech
Lenin, the National Coordinator for the Youth Rights Campaign, took part in a press briefing with other organisers, where they voiced their displeasure with President Bola Tinubu’s Sunday broadcast.
He said: “We want to convey our sorrow and profound disappointment with President Tinubu’s recent national address regarding the #EndBadGovernance protests.”
He criticised the President’s address during the briefing, claiming it demonstrated a lack of awareness of the country’s present conditions.
"This is his first statement to the nation after more than three weeks of widespread demonstrations by Nigerians, during which numerous protesters have lost their lives and journalists have been attacked,” Lenin stated.
It is almost better for Tinubu to have kept quiet - Lenin
“These protests were mobilised for by the flagrant extravagance of political office holders in Nigeria for the past 14 months while asking Nigerians to be patient in our hunger and hardship - which they claim to be our sacrifice for the nation,”
“It is almost better for the President to have kept silent than make this kind of broadcast in which he continued his attitude of ignoring the legitimate grievances of the Nigerian people, by delegitimising our protests as politically-motivated,” Lenin stated.
Lenin declared that the protest would become more intense
Lenin emphasized that the protests would become even more vigorous on Monday and encouraged widespread citizen involvement.
He said, “We are calling on Nigerians to join the protests in large numbers on Monday and keep pushing until our demands are addressed. The current tactics of violence and propaganda have proven ineffective,”
“The violence and repression are merely attempts to silence and control us, while the propaganda won’t deceive or mislead us,” he added.
Adenola said DSS allegedly assaulted Lenin
Damilare Adenola, Director of Mobilisation for the Take It Back Movement, said that the DSS assaulted Lenin during the arrest.
He said, “Lenin has been arrested by the DSS. He was picked up during a raid on his house around 2 am,”
“He was arrested and tortured in the presence of his family. We are demanding his immediate and unconditional release,” Adenola added.
We have identified a senator sponsoring protests in Abuja, Wike shares
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Wike announced that security agencies had nailed the sponsor of the hunger protest in the nation's capital.
According to the report, the minister disclosed that the unnamed senator gave protesters food, adding that Security agencies would call the Senator for inquiries.