New Telegraph

#EndSARS: Search for peace begins

In the aftermath of the recent #EndSARS protests, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has initiated some reconciliatory moves to restore peace in the territory. CALEB ONWE reports.

 

 

The #ENDSARS protests began as a peaceful march on the streets by young men and women who were tired of police brutality in Nigeria.

 

Many of the young people took to the streets in Abuja and other parts of the country, believing that by doing so, their voices would be heard and the government would do something positive to address the issue.

 

But rather than addressing the grievances of the youths in real terms, the government merely accepted to address them in principle. In a desperate bid to get the youths off the streets, government announced the scrapping of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) as well as conceded to the four other demands of the youths.

 

However, the youths who were very suspicious of the position of the government refused to leave the streets until government took practical steps towards resolving all the issues. It was during this stand off that the protest was infiltrated by hoodlums and other criminal elements, who attacked the protesters in order to forcefully evict them from the streets.

 

This was followed by more brutality by security operatives who shot at a crowd of protesters who had camped at the Lekki Toll Plaza, Lagos. From this point, hell was let loose as more daring hoodlums and other criminal elements hijacked the protest and embarked on vandalism, arson and looting spree across the country. The vandalised government offices, banks, warehouses as well as privately -owned properties.

 

In the Apo District, for instance, several car stands belonging to car dealers were set ablaze while warehouses at the Idu Industrial Estate, the commercial nerve centre of the FCT were vandalized, looted and destroyed.

 

The FCT Grain Reserve which also housed farm inputs meant for distribution to the farmers have also been completely looted. It took the imposition of curfew and deployment of troops for the orgy of violence to subside in Abuja and its environs.

 

Minister of the FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, who carried out an on-the-spot assessment of the affected areas in Abuja and its satellite towns observed that both government and private businesses lost goods and properties, worth billions of naira.

 

The minister who went on the inspection alongside some traditional rulers and the FCT Security Taskforce, noted that the fate of several businesses in the affected areas were hanging in the balance and would require urgent intervention by government to ensure that they do not collapse completely.

 

The tour exposed the massive destruction of the means of livelihood of some victims and regrettably, the loss of lives of some Nigerians. The Ministerial Committee set up in FCT to assess the damages incurred during and after the protest has revealed that a lot of efforts would be required to heal the wounds inflicted on the people and the society.

 

Similarly, the youths and other stakeholders need to be brought into the healing process, so as to avoid a reoccurrence of the protest. Inside Abuja gathered that the FCTA has already initiated an aggressive campaign to make the youths embrace peace.

 

Both the Minister, Mallam Muhammad Bello , and the Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu have been holding series of meetings with critical stakeholders, such as religious , traditional and political leaders to prevail on the youths to eschew violence and any act that could lead to a reoccurrence of the undesirable happenstance.

 

The ministers who were shocked at the level of destruction to both public and private property by the hoodlums, agreed that while the youths were constitutionally empowered to engage in peaceful protests to demand for an end to police brutality as well as the reform of the security agencies, the act of brigandage leading to the looting spree was despicable.

 

While the FCTA has urged youths within the territory to embrace peace, it had equally noted that the hoodlums among them who took advantage of the protest to launch devastating attacks on government and privately-owned businesses and properties, would be sought out and made to face the long arm of the law. In one of the peace meetings, the heads of security agencies in the territory also joined in persuading the youths to always embrace peace.

 

 

They noted that though the intention of the protesting youths  and their call for an end to police brutality was quite noble , the same cannot be said about the activities of the hoodlums who unleashed violence on the society and brought untold hardship to many Nigerians.

 

One question that may remain unanswered for very long is, in whose interest were these rampaging hoodlums carrying out these attacks? Certainly, it cannot be the interest of the Nigerian youths whose means of livelihood have now been destroyed, rendering them jobless.

 

In another peace meeting, stakeholders have urged the FCTA to work assiduously for peace to return so that economic activities can thrive once more in Abuja. The government and private sectors are already faced with the challenges of rebuilding the police posts, hospitals, schools, banks, grain reserves, and courts that were vandalised and burnt down by the hoodlums.

 

However, many stakeholders are worried that one of the triggers to the recent unrest which is poverty and widespread social discontent in the country has not been addressed by the government of the day.

 

There are fears that unless the government took urgent steps to address the challenges of high cost of living, poverty, mass unemployment and the harsh economy, another mass protest might erupt which could snowball into large scale breakdown of law and order.

 

 

Some stakeholders have warned that a country like Nigeria which is already experiencing cracks along ethnic and religious fault lines cannot afford to have situations that would widen these cracks.

 

According to some of the stakeholders, the youths spoke very loudly and clearly during the peaceful protests and their messages have been heard by government as have been attested to by various officials of the government. However, the government must begin to show more responsibility towards the plight of the youths across Nigeria.

 

The recent disbursement of N30,000 grant to artisans is considered as one step in the right direction in the efforts to assuage the feelings of the masses and downtrodden in the country.

 

However, nothing has been heard about the plans of the government to pay some compensation to corporate organisations and private investors whose businesses were vandalised, looted or burnt down during the protests.

 

But stakeholders believe that government must pursue peace through dialogue with the youths in order to meet their demands and avoid worse protests in the near future.

 

They urged all well-meaning Nigerians, including the traditional rulers, the religious clerics, government officials and even youth leaders to make more commitment towards embracing peace and dialogue.

Read Previous

Making health, national security issue

Read Next

Arik Re-strategises amid challenges

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *