Why anti-subsidy protests didn’t turn violent under Jonathan – Ex-DSS director
A former Director, Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, has said the protest staged to kick against attempts by former President Goodluck Jonathan-led government to remove petrol subsidy in 2012 didn’t turn violent partly because of ‘the body language’ of the former President.
Ejiofor, who is the President of the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Security Studies, also said that the protesters also didn’t go irate because the situation in the country was not as bad as it is presently.
The former DSS boss gave the explanation while speaking on the planned #EndBadGovernance August 1 – 10 protests, and the moves of government to dissuade the organisers from storming the street.
Recall the DSS on Thursday warned the organisers of the planned nationwide protests against proceeding with the action, saying it uncovered a plan “by some elements to infiltrate the protest and use it to cause chaos and extreme violence in the land.”
Also, the military and police have also warned against the protest scheduled to be held from August 1 to 10 in response to the economic hardship experienced in the country.
“The level of violence being envisaged can only be described as a state of anarchy. The armed forces on its part will not stand by and allow anarchy to befall our nation,” defence spokesman, Major General Edward Buba said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, speaking during an interview on Arise TV Morning Show, Ejiofor on Friday while answering question on why the protest of 2012 was not subjected to threats and a clampdown by security agencies, said it was partly because of the body language of Jonathan who was the then president and the situation of the country as of 2012.
He, however, said the present situation in the country has left a hard condition posing fears that the planned protest if staged, has the tendency to be hijacked because people are now “hungry and desperate”.
“The 2012 protest didn’t turn violent, one, because of the body language of the sitting president then. He allowed everything to go and the situation was not as bad as what we have now. Now, it can be exploited because people are hungry, desperate and want to use anything to vent their anger,” he said.
Arguing that while the right of the people to protest remains sacrosanct, the fear of the protest being hijacked remains high, and could be exploited by people who may seize the situation to push their personal interest.
“It is their legitimate right to protest as enshrined in the constitution. But I think they (organisers of protest) did us a lot of good by giving sufficient notice to the government of their intentions to go on protest and you can see the grounds of appeals from various stakeholders, interests groups appealing to them to shelve the plan.
“No matter how good their intentions are, I believe this will be hijacked eventually,” he said.
(PUNCH)
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