PROTEST: Ekiti yet to recover from EndSARS violence, Oyebanji tells youths

The Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Wednesday, begged the residents of the state not to fall into the agenda of those who wreak havoc in the state all in the name of protest.
Recall that the #EndBadGovernance protests targeted at drawing the Federal Government’s attention to the economic hardship in the country is scheduled to begin tomorrow.
Oyebanji, who spoke in a Special State Broadcast, titled: ‘Need to uphold peace during the August 1 planned nationwide protest’ to the people of the state ahead of the planned nationwide protest, noted that the state was yet to recover from the violence and destruction of the 2020 EndSARS protest.
However, he appealed to Ekiti residents to go about their daily routine without any fear or hesitation.
He added that nobody will be allowed to obstruct, intimidate, impede, or harass anyone in the name of protests in Ekiti.
Oyebanji said: “On our part, we want to assure our citizens that we are more than resolved to protect our state and to ensure no breakdown of laws and orders. The security agencies will be on high alert and will not allow anybody to bloodstain our immaculate name as a peaceful and progressive state.”
He also urged parents and guardians, traditional rulers, and religious leaders “to appeal to the youths not to submit themselves to the evil merchants who want to use them to cause violence in our state as protests can easily be hijacked by hoodlums. No matter how peaceful a protest might seem at the beginning, no one can predict its eventual dynamics and its ending.”
The governor acknowledged that it is the Constitutional right of the citizenry to protest.
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“It is therefore expected that a protest will be conducted under a peaceful atmosphere without recourse to any violent disturbances to other citizens who also enjoy their inalienable right to unhindered movement and life,” he said.
Oyebanji said that violence would be “counterproductive now that everything is being done to re-set the economy to productivity through different fiscal and monetary measures that are already showing early indication of success and we cannot afford a rollback of the present gains.
“As a people, we cannot also afford another expensive destruction of our economic base as we did in 2020 during the #EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of many private and government infrastructures. Multimillion naira businesses were completely ruined and the owners destroyed forever.
“Till today, the Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency’s store room and other government institutions remain in ruins because of the arson and looting that were visited on the State by retrogressive elements masquerading as protesters.
“Many of our silos which serve as national strategic reservoirs for food and seedlings were burnt, looted, and vandalised. Government is still struggling with replacing or repairing these infrastructures, even in the face of scarce resources.”
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