259 Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs) under the aegis of the Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER), have kicked against proposed nationwide protests against the operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by a group, which tagged itself @PIDOM Nigeria.
It would be recalled that PIDOM NIGERIA, through its X handle @PIDOMNigeria, had recently announced Friday July 5, 2024 as the day for Nigerians to protest at all EFCC offices across the country, alleging unprofessional behaviour and perceived failings and excesses of the operatives of the anti-graft agency.
PIDOMNigeria, which has since been mobilizing Nigerians on social media for the proposed anti-EFCC protests, had urged citizens to storm the anti-graft Agency’s offices to unleash #EndSARS-like actions.
COTER condemned the proposed protests, slated for Friday, July 5, 2024, at a press conference held on Wednesday at the International Press Centre (IPC), Ogba, Lagos, and addressed by its Coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, saying that it had also identified some aggrieved politicians, including a former governor of one of the Northern states, two former ministers and others as the brains behind the planned nationwide protests.
The coalition, while condemning the planned nationwide protests in strongest terms, said the major aim was to create panic, fear and anarchy and ultimately scuttle the achievements of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Animashaun, therefore, called on the Federal Government and various security agencies in the country to act swiftly to prevent the protests at EFCC offices nationwide by PIDOM NIGERIA, warning that the protests was another #EndSARS violence in disguise and a disaster waiting to happen.
According to him, the utterances of the ‘faceless’ organisers of the planned nationwide protests at EFCC offices were capable of igniting violence and chaos throughout the country, as it happened during the October 20, 2020 #EndSARS riots in which several lives and properly worth trillions of Naira were lost across the country.
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He further warned that hoodlums and other unscrupulous elements were waiting to hijack such protests being planned by PIDOM NIGERIA, which he accused of hiring and even arming the hoodlums to unleash violence on innocent people under the guise of protesting against EFCC’s excesses if security agencies failed to “immediately nip this burgeoning protests in the bud before they become a conflagration and consume innocent citizens.”
Animashaun equally cautioned Nigerian youths not to allow themselves to be deceived by PIDOM NIGERIA to partake in the planned protests to avoid a situation where they could be made “canon fodders” or become “collateral damage” in the event of any faceoff with security agencies during the illegal action by the “faceless group.”
This was just as he enjoined parents and guardians to warn their children and wards against taking part in the proposed anti-EFCC protests scheduled for Friday to avoid regrets later.
“We urge our youths in the entire country to disregard the disguised devilish plans of the masterminds of the forthcoming protests against the EFCC.
“They are unpatriotic people without character. They do not speak for anyone but themselves and their paymasters and should, therefore, be disregarded.
“We also call on parents and guardians all over the country to warn their children/wards against taking part in the July 5 mayhem being planned by disgruntled politicians using PIDOM NIGERIA.
“They should warn their younger ones to avoid any gathering organised by the group in any EFCC office on Friday July 5, 2024, in any part of the country to avoid regrets later. We should not allow our children to be used as thugs by people who have kept their own children in safe havens outside this country,” COTER coordinator, Animashaun counseled.
