26 Arrested #EndBadGovernance Protesters, Journalists Regain Freedom

A prominent activist and one of the leaders of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest, Deji Adeyanju, has confirmed that 26 individuals, including protesters and journalists, have been released from the hundreds who were arrested and detained by security forces throughout the country.

This development follows the conclusion of nationwide protests on Saturday, August 10.

In a chat with journalists over the weekend, Adeyanju emphasized that efforts are ongoing to secure the release of the remaining protesters still in custody.

He expressed optimism that security agencies would act reasonably and release all individuals, asserting that they have no legal grounds to detain anyone for participating in a protest.

Adeyanju mentioned plans to issue a 48-hour ultimatum for the release of all remaining protesters, warning that legal action would be pursued if their demands were not met.

“We have been able to release 26 protesters, including six journalists from the Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Service, DSS, in Abuja.

“Majority of the protesters released from the cells of the Police and DSS were males, we only got two females arrested and released, but other persons were males and were released and all of these were released unconditionally,” the activist told Vanguard.

Regarding the count of individuals still incarcerated, he stated: “We are aware of approximately 16 additional protesters currently detained in Abuja. However, there are hundreds held in Kano, as well as in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Jigawa. We have numerous comrades in detention, but we are unable to confirm the exact figures.”

He further said: “We have released a lot of journalists that were arrested as well, and they were six in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and Kaduna.

“All the journalists that we know of have been released. The last one was released four days ago, he was a support staff of a journalist.

“We are going to sue them for the breach of the rights of these protesters. We are giving them a 48-hour ultimatum, if they do not, we are going to sue them.

“The President as a perpetual protester himself, I do not know why all of a sudden he has become an oppressor and fast becoming a tyrant that does not have regard for the fundamental rights of protesters in a democracy. It is really ironic and sad, and he stands completely condemned.

“On the release of protesters still in detention, the President should mandate and direct that security agencies to release all protesters in custody unconditionally, and it is an irredeemable minimum the President should do almost immediately.”

In the meantime, Adeyanju urged Nigerians to demand accountability from their leaders across all tiers of government, emphasizing that when citizens neglect their civic duties, it allows leaders the opportunity to infringe upon and misuse their rights.

“So citizens must rise up and hold their leaders accountable at all levels irrespective of local, state and federal government,” he said.