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State Services Department officers arrested one of the leaders of the ongoing #Endbadgovernance protests in the Federal Capital Territory, Michael Lenin.
Punch reports that Lenin was picked up by the DSS around 2am on Monday, August 5, from his residence in the Apo area of the FCT.
The director of the Take It Back movement’s mobilization, Damilare Adenola, who made the news public, said that Lenin’s house was searched by the DSS.
“Lenin was arrested by the DSS. He was taken during a raid on his home around 2 am. He was arrested and tortured in the presence of his family. We demand his immediate and unconditional release,” he said.
Lenin, who is the national coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign, was one of the organizers who spoke at a press conference expressing disappointment over President Bola Tinubu’s broadcast on Sunday. He said the president’s broadcast shows that he is out of touch with the reality of the country.
“We wish to express our sadness and deep disappointment at President Tinubu’s latest speech, which is his first address to the nation on the #EndBadGovernance protests, after more than three weeks since Nigerians began mobilizing to take to the streets and after dozens of protesters died and journalists were attacked in the first three days of protests.
Many had called for the President to address the nation only when the protests had mobilized and started to escalate, but most of us did not know that the President would only justify state violence against protesters and journalists, rejecting the protesters’ demands every time he decided to speak.
This, coupled with the failed attempt to co-opt the progressive and radical language of the protests, only shows how out of touch President Tinubu is with the masses.”
Leni also said that the protest will continue massively on Monday, calling on citizens to take to the streets in large numbers.
“We therefore call on Nigerians to come out en masse to continue these protests on Monday until our demands are met. The two-pronged approach of violence and propaganda has failed. Violence and repression are only attempts to silence and control us, and propaganda cannot influence or deceive us.”
