June 12 protest: National Assembly gate barricaded by security operatives

The main gate of the National Assembly complex in Abuja was barricaded by security operatives on Thursday to fend off June 12 protesters.

The demonstration marking Nigeria’s Democracy Day is organised by the Take It Back Movement and several civil society groups as part of nationwide protests against the current administration.

The organisers said the goal is to highlight “two years of misrule, hardship, and insecurity” under President Bola Tinubu.

The demonstrators made their way to the National Assembly, where Tinubu is poised to address a joint session of the National Assembly as part of the Democracy Day celebrations.

Speaking on Wednesday, the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, said converging at the National Assembly does not change their focus.

“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,” Sanyaolu stated.

On Thursday morning, a heavy security presence was sighted at the assembly complex, where operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and armed police officers were stationed at the gate.