Security Operatives, including officers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command and the Department of State Security Services (DSS), on Saturday, fired gunshots and teargas at protesters and journalists, at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja, the approved designated location for the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests.
Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had, on Wednesday, issued an ex parte order restricting the #EndBadGovernance protesters to the MKO Abiola National Stadium.
On the third day of the protest on Saturday, the protesters engaged in a congress, allowing persons of different ethnicities to air grievances and make demands on the government.
However, the congress abruptly ended as security operatives swooped on them with gunshots and tear gas. The protesters ran inside bushes around the stadium with some of the security operatives giving them a hot chase.
The operatives also fired sporadically at the fleeing journalists. The car belonging to Premium Times reporter conveying The PUNCH, The Cable, Premium Times, and Peoples Gazette’s reporters was fired at. Also, a commuter vehicle’s glass was shattered with bullets.
Earlier, the protesters had invited leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria for a “heart-to-heart” talk at the protest venue.
Addressing the protesters, Sydney Usman, who is with the #Take It Back Movement, thanked the leaders for their various interventions but asked them to show up at the venue on Monday, August 5, to discuss with the protesters.
Usman, who described the leaders as their fathers, said they were protesting the bad governance in the country while decrying attacks on the protesters by the police since the first day of the protests.
Meanwhile, armed security operatives, including masked operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), have taken over the stadium.
Felix Ifijeh, THEWILL
