The police claim to have arrested a thousand or more people since the protests started on Thursday, 1st August. Socialist Labour maintains that acts of peaceful protest are Constitutionally and universally recognised as fundamental human rights. As a result, it is a statutory duty for the police to protect every person in the course of exercising their rights to protest. Rather than protecting peaceful protesters in many cases, peaceful protesters have been viciously attacked and even killed while many others are still being detained.
Socialist Labour calls for the immediate and unconditional release of everyone detained during the #End Hunger protests. The Constitution does not tolerate detention beyond 24 hours without the detainees being taken to court. We reject any attempts by the government to criminalise the right to peaceful protest.
We have watched with utter dismay and shock, video clips of security agents entering homes of alleged protesters and shooting them in cold blood. The security agents have turned themselves into both prosecutors and judges with this jungle justice.
The actions of the Tinubu Government since taking power have also resulted in the deaths of countless people. The raising of the price of petrol and the devaluation of the naira resulted in a huge hike in the price of all goods in the market. This pushed many people from poverty to hunger. Hungry people are more likely to die from common diseases, especially the young and the elderly. How many people are now dying quietly at home because they cannot afford to buy the necessary medicines or pay for health care?
These deaths are the direct result of Tinubu’s official policies. This is why we are protesting and demanding #EndHunger now! We should recognise that the real criminals are those looting the public vaults at national and state levels. The former Accountant General was released on bail after he stole N109 billion. He is still freely walking the streets waiting for his trail.
On Saturday, 3rd August, Ayoola Babalola, a journalist and five others were arrested for protesting at the National Stadium, in Abuja. They were taken to Wuye police station. They were finally released the next day.
In addition, the DSS are now detaining socialists and organisers of the protests. In Abuja several socialists, including Michael Lenin, Babatunde Oluajo (Sankara) and Mosiu Sodiq were detained by the DSS on Saturday night, 3rd August. They are also attempting to locate other organisers of the protests in Abuja. In Kano the tailor who made the Russian flags was even arrested, along with many youths who were carrying the flags!
In March 2024, Amnesty International again called on the Nigerian authorities to release 12
#EndSARS protesters who are still being held without going to trial: “Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq
Adigun, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin – arrested in Lagos in 2020, and still being arbitrarily held in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre for over three years. Peaceful #EndSARS protesters Segun Adeniyi, Onuorah Odih, Jeremiah Lucky, Gideon Ikwujomah, Irinyemi Olorunwanbe, Quadri Azeez, Olamide Lekan and Sadiq Riliwan – are still also detained without trial in Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos since 2020.”
Socialist Labour demands that all those recently detained by the police and the DSS are immediately released. We also demand that all the #EndSARS protesters still illegally held in prison are released. We call for senior police officers in all states where protesters were killed to be prosecuted.
Our protests have to continue to fill the streets until at least these basic demands are met:
- immediate implementation of the new minimum wage
- payment of all salary and pension arrears in states and payment of proper palliatives
- reversal of school and tuition fee hikes and the introduction of a maximum affordable fee level
- reversal of the hikes in petrol and electricity prices
- removal of the collection of fees, dues and tolls from market women
- release of all #EndSARS detainees and #EndHunger protesters.
