THUGS have taken over the #FearlessInOctober protest in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Economy Post learnt that the crimnals invaded the protest at the Federal Secretariat, along Aba Road in Port Harcourt, wielding weapons and canes. The thugs were also seen at Hotel Presidential Junction, according to Channels TV.
They asked protesters to go home, insisting that there won’t be any protest in Rivers State.
There is heavy police presence and militarisation in Rivers State. Some observers say it is to forestall breakdown of law and order by protesters or criminals who may inflitrate the #FearlessInOctober protest.
“I am afraid of my life. We did not see this kind of protest in August when we had the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest. This may be connected to the current political sitiation in the state,” said a #FearlessInOctober protester, Mr Theophilus Okolo, who said he was retreating from the protest.
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Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State is locked in a political fight with his enstranged godfather, who is now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, who is hellbent on ensuring that power returns to his camp.
The situation has distracted Mr Fubara, with several politicians in the state, including some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, in Mr Wike’s camp. Some of the members of the House of Assembly have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in support of Mr Wike, prompting Mr Fubara to declare that he would not recognise them as legislators.
Heavy security presence in Abuja
Economy Post learnt that there is heavy security presence in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Police and military personnel are manning strategic points throughout the city, disrupting traffic and causing panic among residents, Economy Post has learnt.
Military and police personnel set up roadblocks since 5am from Wuse to Kubwa, down to Dei Dei and Gwagwalada, checking vehicular movements and asking questions.
However, there was no sign of #FearlessInOctober protest at the Eagle Square, the supposed venue of the protest on Tuesday morning.
Why the protest?
The #FearlessInOctober protest is a continuation of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest which took place across Nigeria in August.
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Nigerians are protesting the cost-of-living crisis bedevilling the nation. Cost of staple food such as bread, garri, beans, and rice have more than doubled in the last one year, thanks to the petrol subsidy removal and the floating of the exchange rate market by President Bola Tinubu.
Protesters say the government has not provided sufficient palliatives for citizens who now struggle to have two square means in 24 hours due to Mr Tinubu’s twin policies.
“The polices are good but they are ill-timed,” said a Rivers State-based humna rights activist, Mr Chioke George.
President Tinubu protested in 2012
President Bola Tinubu protested in 2012 against President Goodluck Jonathan’s petrol subsidy removal.
On January 2, 2012, Mr Tinubu joined the Occupy Nigeria protest to force President Jonathan to rescind his decision to raise premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol price from N87 to N145. Former Nigerian Labour Congress President, Mr Adams Oshiomole; former President Muhammadu Buhari; Nobel Laurette, Prof Wole Soyinka; former APC Chairman, Mr John Oyegun; former Kaduna State Governor, Masir El-Rufai, among many others, were all part of the protest.
During the demonstration, Mr Tinubu had accused President Jonathan of breaking the social contract with the people, which he personally signed, noting that he must not remove petrol subsidies.
“Government must modify the sudden and complete removal of the subsidy. Either we restore the subsidy or use the funds for other social purposes,” Mr Tinubu said on January 11, 2012, during the protest.
“If we are to use the funds for other programmes, these programmes shall be placed on parallel track with the subsidy. As more of these programmes are ready to go on line, then the subsidy can be lifted in phases. In this way, the public is assured government will not lower its total expenditure on their behalf, thus maintaining the spirit central to the social contract.”
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The “subsidy is gone” problem
Mr Tinubu became president of Nigeria, winning the controversial 2023 presidential election. However, he has done exactly what he accused former President Jonathan of, removing petrol subsidies that had kept fuel at less than N200 per litre.
He had announced that “subsidy is gone” on the day of his inauguration on May 29, 2023. Despite that, he still pays PMS subsidies even as a litre of fuel has now exceeded N900.
In 2012, Nigeria’s subsidy payment stood at N1.35 trillion, according to the defunct Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). In 2023, under President Tinubu, the nation paid N3.6 trillion in petrol subsidies and will spend N5.4 trillion in 2024 despite denials by government officials. Yet PMS price is sold at over N900 per litre at several filling stations.
“How things have regressed in Nigeria since 2015. This shows you that politicians are all the same here,” Mr George, earlier quoted, said
