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General News of Monday, 7 December 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

End SARS: Another round of protest will worsen our economy- Yahaya Bello to Nigerian youths

Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello

Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello has appealed to Nigerian youths to desist from engaging in another round of #EndSARS protests as this might plunge the country into more financial stress.

Governor Bello made this statement in a statewide broadcast after rumors that protesters were returning to the streets in some cities to demonstrate against police brutality.

The #EndSARS protests which started on October 8, took a sad turn when hoodlums hijacked it, carried out massive looting, destruction of private and public properties as well as killing of some persons including security agents, Linda Ikeji said.

Governor Bello said another round of demonstrations will not be only premature but also counterproductive. He appealed to Nigerian youths to consolidate on the gains of the protest by fully participating in various judicial panels of inquiry set up by the various state governments, according to Linda Ikeji.

“In the face of all this and as the first sitting governor who publicly upheld the rights of our youths to protest against police brutality, I cannot in all good conscience agree that the time is ripe for another round of #EndSARS protests,” he said.

I deem another round of #EndSARS protests to be premature and counter-productive at this time. Apart from the higher likelihood of conflict with the police earlier canvassed, we must also admit that the security situation in the country is very precarious at the moment.

All patriots must therefore make conscious efforts not to degrade a parlous security situation further. Nationwide protests at this time will only overburden the load-bearing capabilities of our security architecture increasing the likelihood of total collapse. No matter the narrative, I doubt that out-of-control anarchy is an objective of the #EndSARS protests.

To worsen matters, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) predicted 3 days ago that the pandemic could push the number of people living in extreme poverty to over 1 billion by 2030. Thank God they are owning up to my earlier prediction, warning and caution.

Nigeria’s earning and foreign exchange situation is too fragile as we speak to resist sustained shocks.

Another nationwide protest will worsen the multidimensional poverty indices all over our country and work greater hardship on the ordinary Nigerians we claim to be advocating for.” he said