Eagle Square Is Public Property, We’ll Use With Or Without Wike’s Permission – Protest Organisers
Organizers of the forthcoming nationwide protest tagged #EndBadGovernance and scheduled for August 1–10, 2024, have declared that the Eagle Square is a public property, noting that protesters would utilize the facility with or without the approval of Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The Minister had stated that no application was received to use the venue for the planned protest. and that he would not grant permission to use the venue.
Firing back at Wike, the Director of Mobilisation for the Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, a non-governmental organization leading the protest, said the minister is likely being insincere about receiving the letter requesting the use of the venue.
Adenola, who spoke on a Channels Television programme: “Sunday Politics,” said they have since sent a letter of request to the former Rivers State governor for the use of the facility.
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He said: “It is possible that the receipt of the letter is being delayed by, most likely, bureaucracy in government or the minister is likely being insincere about receiving the letter.
“If he (Wike) insists that he hasn’t received it, the alternative is that he was served by publication because many Nigerian ministries streamline what to receive or not.
“If he says he didn’t get it physically, then we could as well say that he was served by publication.
“If he says he wants it by Monday, we will serve him.
“The truth is that the Eagle Square is a public property.
“When I saw the video of the minister, I was amazed because I saw the minister asking us to pay rent, pay security fees, and all that.
“My question to the minister is this: how does the minister expect a greater population of Nigerian youths who are impoverished, who have no jobs to afford the exorbitant fee he is expecting us to pay?
“We are going to be at the Eagle Square on August 1st.
“It’s a double insult to tag the organisers of the protest as faceless.
“The organisers of the protest are hungry Nigerians.
“They are a host of unemployed Nigerians.
“They are a host of hopeless Nigerians who are roaming the streets.
“They are the out-of-school children spread across the country.
“These are the organisers of the protest and the greatest motivation of this #EndBadGovernance protest is hunger.
“People are really hungry.
“This is the idea of battered Nigerian people.
“This is the idea of hungry Nigerian people.
“This is the idea of hopeless Nigerian people.
“Young people are tired and need to express their displeasure against the government’s malfeasance.”
Adenola revealed that the bank account of the organisation was blocked on the orders of the Department of State Services.
He said security agencies should take up the challenge and make themselves available at all protest venues in the country.
