TAKE-It-Back Movement, a good governance advocacy group, led by activist Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to hold a national protest on June 12, in response to ongoing killings and undemocratic actions by those in power.
The group’s National Coordinator, Juwon Sanyaolu, announced this in a statement on Tuesday June 3.
He said the movement “rejects the hollow ceremonies and official pageantry” typically associated with the Democracy Day.
“This June 12, we march not just for ourselves, but for the slain in Benue, the displaced in Plateau, the silenced in detention, and the starving masses abandoned by the corrupt elite” Sanyaolu said.
The group’s leader appealed to all Nigerians to stand up against “undemocratic forces in power.”
“We will not participate in the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom where none exists. Instead, we declare this day a National Day of Resistance, a day to stand against tyranny and bad governance.
“Freedom of speech is under attack. The state has turned on its citizens with an unrelenting campaign of intimidation and censorship,” the group stated..
It expressed sadness that democracy, hard-won through struggle, sweat, and blood of patriots, had been “dismantled by the same forces that once vowed to bring change.”
“Journalists are harassed. Activists are detained. Citizens are arrested for social media posts. Through weaponisation of the Cybercrime Act, government agents now stalk the digital footprints of dissenters, silencing legitimate criticism and criminalising free expression.
“And while the voices in the streets are silenced, the cries from rural communities echo unheard. In Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and across the Middle Belt, mass killings continue with terrifying frequency. Whole communities are decimated. Lives are snuffed out without consequences.”
The group also decried the number of internally displaced persons in the country, while perpetrators roam free, noting that the bloodletting had become a routine, while the state remains complicit through its inaction, negligence, or outright denial.
The ICIR reported in August 2024, many Nigerians trooped to the streets to protest poor governance and economic hardships occasioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms.
The protests were marred with violence, largely caused by security operatives in places like Lagos and Abuja, where protesters were subjected to tear gas and harassment.
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