Organisers of the planned nationwide protests slated for the first ten days of August have rejected the proposal by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun for confined protests.
At a meeting with the organisers on Tuesday, the IGP suggested confined protests in identified locations and advised against street processions.
However, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), one of the lawyers for the Take It Back Movement, one of the groups organising the nationwide protests, rejected the proposal of the IGP.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), other lawyers, civil society organisations as well as some of the top guys of the planned protests attended the virtual meeting.
Nigerian security agencies and Department of State Services has warned against the protests saying unscrupulous elements are ready to hijack the protest. The politicians are also saying that the planned protests might end up like the EndSARS protests of October 2020 where lives and properties were lost and destroyed and have continued to appeal to youths to shelve the planned protests but the young people are holding on to their convictions to go ahead with the protests.
Adegboruwa, one of the lawyers for the protesters, had on July 26, 2024, written the IGP to provide police coverage for protesters.
The IGP, in his response letter dated July 29, 2024, directed senior police officers to attend to the request of the senior lawyer.
Egbetokun subsequently requested to meet with Adegboruwa in Abuja on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, “to deliberate further” on his request.
However, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria opted for a virtual meeting with the police boss, enlisting Falana, members of the NBA and others to attend the meeting.
Adegboruwa highlighted some of the points of convergence for the protests as Eagle Square, Abuja; Alausa Park, Lagos; Akpakpava Lane, Benin City; School of Agric, Bauchi; Rosewale Filling Station, Iwo Road, Ibadan; Maiduguri Roundabout, opposite State Stadium, Damaturu, Yobe State; Rainbow Roundabout and Pantani Stadium, River and Freedom Park, Osogbo.
