The Director for Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, has said that Nigerians who are set to embark on planned protests against economic hardship are looking to imitate the ongoing protests in Kenya.
Buba said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, where he also said that 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.
Speaking on the potential replication of Kenyan protests by Nigerians, Buba 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,” he added.
When asked what he believed to be the motivation behind the upcoming protests, he said, “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.”
However, he added, “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.”
Buba then went on to say that others who mean differently could be feeding off frustrated Nigerians and he explained, “You must understand that could it be opposition parties? Could it be terror groups? Could it be sovereign interference? Could it be interest groups that are feeding on the frustrations of Nigerians?”
The Major General then said that there were indications that certain statuses will be targeted during the protests, saying, “There are indications that there will be status related violence, and what do I mean by that? You carry a smartphone, you think you’re poor, but somebody can carry out violence to collect that phone from you. You drive a car, you have properties, you have a shop, you have house, even as minute as using- I say minute, but for somebody else it’s luxurious- as using air condition, you will be targeted. And other areas that we found out that will be targeted are worship centres, businesses, markets, and the list goes on.”
Buba was then asked about the plan of the military to maintain peace, law and order, to which he responded, “I will say that the constitution is very clear as to how and when the military gets involved in such situations. There is what is called military aid to civil authority, which involves the deployment of the military in such a situation in support of the police and civil security to maintain law and order. Until we are invited, we don’t come in. But for now, what we are doing is carrying out situational awareness, to read what’s happening in the environment so that at a point, if we are called in, we know exactly what’s happening.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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