Police arrest AAC governorship candidate, others over #Endbadgovernance protest in Ondo

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

Police detectives in Ondo State have arrested the governorship candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, in the state, Kunle Ajayi and some youths for protesting against bad governance in the country.

Others arrested during the protest which took place at the popular NEPA roundabout in Akure metropolis include Patrick Owolabi, Oluwatobi Akinkuotu, Kolawole Kumuyi and Olalekan Oladehinde among others.

The protesters were dispersed by the state police command but they refused to leave the scene.

One of the protesters, Tope Temokun, a human rights activist and lawyer, who condemned the arrest of the nine protesters, said there was no evidence of violence to justify the arrest of the protesters.

Temokun said: “The resort to arresting peaceful protesters by men of the Nigerian Police in Akure today is a wasteful and unwarranted dissipation of energy.

“In particular, regarding the way in which the demonstrators coordinated their action and the exchanges that took place between the demonstrators and the police before the arrest”

“Yesterday, a letter was submitted by the leaders of the Take-It-Back movement to the Nigerian Police in Akure, informing the police of today’s protest and calling on the police to provide protection.

“This morning, in an orderly manner, the protesters, placards in hand, began their peaceful march through the city, around the NEPA roundabout.

“This arrest took place after the protesters were challenged by the leaders of the police team who came and demanded that the protesters go to a designated and approved location which would have been Archade.

“But unbeknownst to the protesters who quickly complied with the order by heading to the approved location, this was simply a plan to trap, isolate and arrest them.

“As the protesters were moving towards them peacefully, they were ambushed by the Nigerian Police Arrest Team who were acting on orders from above and arrested the youths.

“This way of misleading citizens in the context of civic engagement will not only lead to a further loss of total confidence in the police, it is very shameful and looks like a gallery game to obtain empty praise from the government.”

“The arrest that took place is highly condemnable and remains condemnable. If the government has evidence of violence by protesters, it must reveal it.”

He therefore called on “Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, as the State Chief Security Officer, to whom the State Commissioner of Police is constitutionally responsible for security matters in the state, to order the unconditional release of those arrested during the protest.

He said they did not pose a threat to the security of the state “like the hunger and pressure being exerted on the people across the country by the APC government, while the process of demanding good governance continues! Protest is not and will never be a crime, come what may!”

Reacting, the spokesperson of the state police command, Funmi Odunlami, who was evasive, said: “I am in a meeting, I will get back to you shortly.”

Vanguard News

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