Abuja: Protesters flying Russian flag
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The #endbadgovernance protest took a new twist on Monday being the day 5 of the protest in Abuja, as large number of the protesters were seen flying Russian flag alongside placards bearing several inscriptions.
Many of the protesters, mostly youths below 30, who took to the major road that connect Nyanya to Karu, Jikwoyi, Kurudu up to Orozo and Karshi chanting solidarity songs and calling on Russia to come to the aid of Nigeria.
They set up fire on the road thus frustrating movement of motorists and commuters on a Monday morning that’s supposed to be a busy day.
The development further brought different meaning to the protest which was initially designed to draw the attention of the government to the economic hardship being faced by Nigerians as a result of fuel subsidy removal and other policies of the government in the last one year of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The development also forced businesses and other offices within the locations to activate panic mood, with some leaving the doors of their business/office locations half-closed preparatory to any eventuality.
Meanwhile, as at 9am, Police and military officials had mobilized of the locations to maintain peace and allow free movement of people and vehicles.
At the beginning of the #endbadgovernance protest last week, protesters in Kano and some other northern states were seen waving the Russian flag which was a huge surprise to many other protesters from across the other parts of Nigeria on why the waving of Russian flag.
The protest in Kano and some other locations in the north later turned violent resulting in looting of government and private properties, thus forcing the government declared 24 hours curfew to contain the situation in line with security advice.
But despite that, protesters in some of the states defiled the curfew and continued the protest at the weekend with Russian flag conspicuously waved at the protest grounds.
One of the protesters who identified himself as Salihu, said they had to get Russian flag in solidarity and to seek the intervention of the Russian President, Putin, to the hardship that government has inflicted on the people through its policies.
He said: “We were anxious and expectant when we heard the President was going to address the nation on Sunday morning, only for him to completely avoid the issues and was talking something else. We had expected a promising steps or pronouncements from the President’s speech but we were completely disappointed.
“The speech was empty. He neither spoke nor did the things we were expecting from him as contained in the demands, and that aggravated us to increase mobilization for the Monday protest.
“We believe that Russian President is the only one that can speak to President Tinubu to return the subsidy on fuel which gave birth to this massive hardship and suffering that we are experiencing in Nigeria. We don’t trust the United States nor the United Kingdom because they have failed us hence we are relying on Russia for assistance.”
