The Director for Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, has revealed that the intelligence organisations and agencies have pointed out those who can be arrested in the nationwide protest scheduled for August 1-10, 2024.
Buba, made this known during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, said Nigerians who are set to embark on planned protests against economic hardship are looking to imitate the ongoing protests in Kenya.
According to Buba, although the people have a constitutional right to protest, they do not have a right to mobilise for anarchy or to unleash terror on the country because the military will not tolerate it.
The military spokesperson asserted that the protest is either motivated by opposition political parties, terrorists or organisations feeding on the frustration of Nigerians.
He said, “You need to look at the contemporary context for what has initiated this protest, and we don’t need to look further than Kenya. They want to shadow what is happening in Kenya. And if you look at what’s happening in Kenya, it’s violent, there has been destruction of properties.
“Let’s look again at Kenya where they want to shadow. Now, we see the Kenyan government has given a lot, but still, the situation is unresolved up till date. We wouldn’t want such a situation to happen in our country. And what we’re saying is we need to quench the fire of violence rather than ignite it. Because when we ignite it, there’s no telling how far that fire will go.
“Essentially, there are several factors to be considered in examining the motivation for these protests. is it motivated by opposition politics? Is it motivated by sovereign interference? Could it be motivated by interest parties or by terrorist groups or even organisations that are feeding on the frustrations of Nigerians?
“Now, the Intelligence Organisations and agencies are doing a good job in pointing that out and pointing to us those that can be picked up, and the relevant agencies are at it. But it must be stated that while the protesters have a constitutional right to conduct peaceful protests, they do not have a right to mobilise for anarchy and the unleashing of terror.
“I will say that we have conducted protests in this country prior to now, but this particular one is different, and it is different because there is an atmosphere of hardship, and that atmosphere of hardship, they say, a hungry man is an angry man.”
