Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, has said it is wrong to jail people protesting economic hardship in the land.
Afenifere spoke against the backdrop of the recent incarceration of #EndBadGovernance protesters, warning the government against descent into fascism.
This was contained in a statement by the group loyal to Pa Ayo Adebanjo and signed by HRM Oba Oladipo Olaitan (Afenifere Deputy Leader) and Prince Justice Faloye (National Publicity Secretary).
10 protesters who were charged for treason and attempting to destabilize the country were granted N100 million bail by an Abuja Federal High Court, on Wednesday.
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But Afenifere called for the “immediate unconditional release” of the protesters and cautioned Tinubu’s administration “from slipping into dictatorship that criminalizes the inalienable right to protest for self-preservation and upholding of social contracts.”
It said the suspicion of being backed or financed by a foreign country is not enough to jail protesters, reminding President Tinubu that he was once backed by foreign interests to protect against President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said, “Purporting that some protestors, despite not backed by arms, politicians nor ideology, were treasonable because of suspected foreign financers, President Tinubu and his party must be reminded that they were once financially and morally backed by foreign institutions to protest, launch anti-corruption and political campaigns against President Jonathan, who though publicly complained, never charged them with treason, despite clear evidence of foreign foundations and institutions involvement.
“So President Tinubu and his ruling party have no moral right to charge any protester against bad governance, especially unarmed and underage protestors.
“The government can’t jail Nigerians feeling the pain and protesting its debilitating economic policies and fuel shortages due to a privatized NNPC that has privatized its retail wing to those monopolizing petrol stations, where huge queues accumulate to buy slightly cheaper petrol at newly acquired NNPC stations while other petrol stations either don’t have fuel or have to sell at exorbitant prices.”
Afenifere stated that rather than accuse the protesters of treason, the government is guilty of “economic treason” due to its “economic misgovernance”.
According to the group, the petrol and foreign exchange issues were at the root of the nation’s economic hardship. It said this could have been resolved within 100 days of the administration by “halving our import bill made up of fuels/oils – 33% ($21b), Vehicles 21% ($13.42 billion) and edibles 10% ($6.71b).”
