Demonstration: Protest against hardship flops in states

The planned nationwide protest against hardship and insecurity failed to take place in many states yesterday.

The protest was planned by #TakeItBackMovement to coincide with the June 12 Democracy Day in the country.

The organisers had declared June 12 a “National Day of Resistance”, rejecting what they called the “hollow ceremonies” of Democracy Day.

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Many of the venues designated for the protest were deserted in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and many of the states.

However, there were reports that the protest took place in Oyo and Osun States.

Situations in Bauchi, Niger, Kano

There was a heavy deployment of security personnel in Yelwan, Bauchi, where the protest was supposed to have been held.

It was learnt that the organisers had earlier suspended the protest for undisclosed reasons.

Also in Niger State, the designated venue for the protest, Gidan Matasa, was occupied by police officers.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Wasiu Abiodun, said officers were deployed “for public safety but no protester was seen at the venue.”

There was no sign of protest at Sabon Gari, Farm Centre, Kantin Kwari and Yankaba in Kano State as residents told Daily Trust that they were not aware of it.

Aisha Ibrahim, a food vendor at Kofar Naisa, said:  “This morning, I opened my shop like I always do. People are buying food, and nobody has said anything about any protest. I think many people in Kano are not even aware anything like that is happening.”

At Kwari Market, Malam Ibrahim Musa, a textile trader, said politics is not on the minds of most people at the moment.

“People are more concerned about survival. Things are expensive, and what we need now is customers, not protest. Maybe in Lagos or Abuja it’s happening, but here, everybody is doing business as usual,” he said.

Protest shelved in Edo, boycotted in Yobe

The organisers of the protest, scheduled to be held at the National Museum and Monument in Benin City and Auchi in Edo State, shelved it, citing security reasons.

Our correspondent observed heavy security presence at major junctions in the metropolis.

The coordinator of the protest in the state, Hafiz Lawal, said it was shelved for security reasons. 

In Yobe State, residents boycotted the protest the organisers did not show up at Maiduguri Bypass Roundabout when the demonstration was billed to be staged.

The spokesman of the state police command, Dungus Abdulkarim, told our correspondent that the command was not notified about the protest.

Protesters, pro-Tinubu group clash in Lagos

The #Endbadgovernance Movement and a pro-President Bola Ahmed Tinubu group, called Team Nigeria, exchanged words over the president’s performance.

The two groups, who mounted their vans with musical equipment facing each other, blared songs laced with words hailing and criticising the president at the convergence point for protest in Ikeja underbridge, Lagos.

The #Endbadgovernance movement displayed placards with inscriptions; “No one deserves death sentence for protesting against hunger”, “we pay through our nose, Eko Disco smiles to the bank,” and among others, expressing their grievances over hardship exacerbated by the president’s economic reforms.

However, the other group, cladded in white T-shirts and green caps, were praising the president.

A leader of the #Endbadgovernance movement, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, who spoke to newsmen, said: “These are the people who should have been part of the pro-democracy struggle, but when you see what president Bola Tinubu is doing today over the past two years, you are going to realise that there is nothing democratic under his government.

“We are here today to demonstrate the fact that the democracy that the Nigerian people fought for in 1993 have been bastardised by President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

“Today, there is no freedom of speech. In fact, what we have today is a capitalist-dictatorship under the president. That is why we have to question the democratic credentials of the president,” he said.

For his part, the leader of Team Nigeria, Bestman Nze-Jumbo, said: “We are celebrating. This is the first time that Nigeria will go over 20 years of democratic rule at a stretch and all this took effect from the spirit of June 12th. If you were around during June 12th, you will know that it is a day worth celebrating.

“You know, in Nigeria, people play to the gallery. They want to be seen as if they are on the side of those suffering. Well, it is not true.

“Every protest that you see is probably sponsored. Now, that is why I said what my group is doing is not a protest, it is a celebration. June 12 is worth celebrating in Nigeria, because it is about our democracy and MKO Abiola who eventually gave his life.”

Demonstration held in Oyo, Osun

A coalition of civil socialists, labour activists and students in Oyo State protested along the Mokola-Adamasingba-Dugbe Road and its environs, with the demonstrators calling on the federal and state governments to end “hunger, hardship, insecurity, reverse all International Monetary Fund/World Bank anti-poor policies and end attacks on democratic rights for genuine electoral reform.”

The security operatives were sighted at strategic locations to ensure the protest was not hijacked.

Aremu said: “We are out today because today is June 12. Unfortunately for us, there are hardly any dividends to show for it. What we have today is what they call renewed hope, which has ceased to be truly one.

“The government of President Bola Tinubu has been in office since May 29, 2025. For working people, youth and other ordinary Nigerians, the administration, whose mantra is ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’, has proved to be a monumental failure.”

Also speaking, the secretary of the Joint Action Front (JAF), Abiodun Bamgboye, alleged that “Nigerians are suffering from “an outrageous spike in fuel price, inadequacy of electricity generation and distribution.

“We demand immediate repositioning of all public refineries and an end to the importation of petroleum products, nationalisation of the power sector under the control and management of the elected representatives of the working people. Our schools are not in the best conditions.”

Similarly, some residents of Osun State, who protested in major streets of Osogbo, the state capital, urged the federal government to address the economic hardship in the country.

The protest, organised by the Osun Civil Societies Coalition, was held at Ayetoro and moved through Igbona Market, Olonkoro, Ajegunle Market, Dugbe, Old Garage, MDS Market, Olaiya Intersection and Fakunle and the Governor’s Office.

The coordinator of the #TakeItBackMovement in the state, Mr Victor Lijofi, asked Tinubu to alleviate poverty in Nigeria.