President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met with the leadership of the National Assembly (NASS) against the backdrop of allegation that influential politicians connived with hoodlums to hijack the EndSARS protest with a view to destabilising the government.

The meeting, which was held behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa Abuja, had President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, in attendance and was presided over by President Buhari.

Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the Senate President said the meeting specifically deliberated on how best to address the ongoing EndSARS demonstrations being witnessed in some parts of the country.

According to him, the national assembly has a crucial role to play in ensuring that the demands of the protesters are properly addressed and implemented to restore sanity in the society.

 “This is certainly a very trying moment and as a national assembly, we believe that we have a very critical and crucial role to play in ensuring that the current situation of protest across the country is bought to an end.

“I want to thank Mr. President for exhibiting very deep democratic credentials – the protests have gone on for over ten days, across many states of the country and I think the protesters have expressed their legitimate right, the government has listened.

“The essence of coming to meet Mr. President is to review the situation and see the roles the two arms of government should play in ensuring that the five-point demands of the protesters are properly addressed.

“Where legislative intervention will be required, we are ready to move in and deal with such expeditiously, to ensure that we don’t waste any time so that we address the concerns of our youths.

“Where the executive role is expected we are sure that the executive will expedite action and we will be watching to ensure that such demands are properly met,’’ he said.

Lawan, therefore, appealed to the aggrieved youths to suspend their protests as the government had commenced implementation of their five-point demands, saying the government needed a sufficient and conducive environment to implement the demands.

He said the appeal had become imperative to avert possible breakdown of law and order in the country.

He said: “It is also very critical at this point to mention this since the protest had taken place and the demands had been accepted.

 “Time has come for the protest to stop because the government needs to have sufficient time and a conducive environment to implement the demands of the protesters we also need to have our economy to continue to grow.

“When we try to stop everybody from engaging in their local businesses, closing roads to markets and other economic places we disrupt the economy of the country and that is not the best way to go.

FG Accuses Top Politicians of Ulterior Motive

Meanwhile, the Federal Government alleged that top politicians and the hoodlums were using ulterior motive against the country and particularly to bring down Buhari’s administration.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this yesterday at  a Radio Nigeria programme, said the Federal Government had met the demands of the group and was on the verge of implementing them, but the protests had continued unabated.

“Having met the demands, it was absurd that protesters were remaining on the streets causing mayhem, obstructing movements, and inflicting pains on Nigerians.

“When you look at the demands of the #EndSARS and the decisions of the Federal Government, it is clear that there is no single demand of the group that has not been met.

“Therefore, one will begin to ask if there is an ulterior motive because what we have witnessed in the last few days is that they have moved their demands from five to seven.

“As soon as the government approved one demand another one will follow.

“From the five demands which were initially tabled and have been addressed, they are now including petrol price, National Assembly salaries, and allowances, electricity tariff among others.

‘Then you begin to ask yourself what exactly is the motive of the protests and who are those behind them,” he said.

According to the minister, it is more nauseating that the protest has gone violent, claiming lives and causing injuries as well as destruction to property.

He said Saturday’s assassination attempt on Gov. Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun who came out to identify with the protesters and address them was a clear indication that the protest had been hijacked.

Mohammed said the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, was equally turned back on the road by the protesters in Abuja.

“Peaceful protest is synonymous with democratic tenets and to that extent, we see the EndSARS protest as the manifestation of how far our democracy has developed

”Regrettably, the protest has been hijacked by hoodlums and by people with ulterior motives bent at destabilising the country.

“As of today, many people in many parts of the country simply cannot go out because people are being intimidated and roads have been blocked.

“There was a report of a pregnant woman that died inside the ambulance simply because she could not get to the hospital because of the protesters.

“This cannot be allowed to continue because where your right stops another person’s rights begin.

‘While the government will continue to engage, no responsible government will fold its arms and allow the state to be thrown into anarchy,” he said.

It would be recalled that #EndSARS group tables five demand including “police brutality, release of al protesters and ensuring and justice be given to deceased victims of SARS including compensation to their families.

They equally demanded that there should be an independent committee to oversee the investigations and prosecution of any member of SARS found guilty of extrajudicial killings.

They demanded that all personnel of the disbanded SARS undergo a psychological and medical evaluation as well as retraining before they should be redeployed to other services of the police.

The protesters also demanded that the salary of the police should be increased in a manner that will be adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of citizens.

In meeting the demands of the protesters, the minister said on Oct. 11, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) dissolved SARS across the 36 state Police Command and the FCT.

He said the President on Oct. 12 addressed the nation, stating that the disbanding of SARS was a first step in the comprehensive reform of the police.

…Warns Against Anarchy

Also at the weekend, Mohammed warned  that the Federal Government would not allow the country to be thrown into anarchy following the violence that has trailed the #EndSARS protests.

“We are no longer dealing with #EndSARS but a volatile situation that can lead to anarchy if government does not take some very firm steps to protect the lives and livelihood of innocent Nigerians,” he said.

The minister added that the protests have gone beyond being peaceful because lives have been lost and innocent Nigerians, including workers and students, are passing through harrowing experiences.

Specifically, he said because the protesters are blocking the roads and highway, workers are finding it difficult to get to their offices and back home while many Nigerians are stranded on the roads.

“We have nothing against peaceful protest, but there are civilised ways of doing so. This is by going to a venue where you are not going to disturb other Nigerians because where your own right stops, other persons’ right begins,” he said.

Catholic Bishops Back Protests,  Canvass Restructuring

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has aligned itself with the ongoing nationwide protests by the Nigerian youths who are calling for an end to police brutality and extra-judicial killings in the country.

In a Press statement signed by the National Director of Communications, Padre Mike Umoh, the CBCN President and Archbishop of Benin-City, Most Rev Augustine Obiora Akubeze, noted that the widespread protest calling for an end to SARS is “not only remarkable, but quite commendable, more so that it is being led by the Nigerian youths”.

Archbishop Akubeze stressed that it is “an indication that the “youths are tired of suffering from the brutality and injustices perpetrated by SARS operatives and Nigeria Police Force in general. 

“The youths are, therefore, simply calling for justice not just for themselves, but for the entire nation so that Nigeria can have peace”. 

The Archbishop of Benin-City noted further that whereas the “Federal Government keeps asking for peace and calm in the face of every crisis, the present agitation shows that the Nigerian youths have run out of patience and are tired of the lip-service paid by the government of the day towards a just and peaceful society. 

“We, unequivocally, add our voice to those of our youths and that of every well-meaning Nigerian to condemn the excesses and the horrible operations of this Police unit and the bad omen they portend to our democracy.”

“The Nigerian Government must realise that what the youths, on behalf of Nigerians, clamour for under the code name #EndSARS is a total reform of the entire Police Force and not a change of name; they call for a reform of all our government institutions and a reform of the entire nation.

They are asking for a system that will be hard on crimes and criminals in the society within the ambiance of the law, while at the same time treating every human being, citizens and visitors alike, with respect and dignity”.