Promoters of the proposed nationwide protests were on Thursday asked to pursue dialogue rather than resorting to disorder. Federal government issued this warning in a statement issued by Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu, Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
The government said it would continue to engage with stakeholders on the country’s economic, social, and political challenges.
The statement made available to the press in Abuja, also revealed that the agency’s nationwide structure had successfully identified the sponsors of the proposed protest and likely flashpoints, saying the government would take measures to forestall any violent occurrences in the identified locations.
Said Onilu: “The channels of communication with the government and its various arms remain open for dialogue. The government will continue to respect citizens’ rights to protest and associate freely in line with democratic principles”.
He emphasised that the identities of many of the brains behind the protest were known, along with their collaborators who are safely residing abroad, and that the government was taking necessary actions to stop their subversive plans.
He stated that the intentions of those behind the planned protest were not about governance or the state of the economy but a decoy to destabilise the country, cause mayhem, and carry out arson, killings, and maiming of innocent citizens for narrow political reasons.
NOA is intensifying efforts in civil intelligence gathering and sensitising community leaders, parents, and youths across the 774 Local Governments on the need for vigilance and collective preventive actions.
He added that another objective of the protest was to project a picture of an unstable country to the international community as part of a grand design to intimidate the government and seek patronage from the bigger sponsors of the planned protest.
