#Northern coordinators pull out of October 1 EndBadGovernance protest

Less than 24 hours to the commencement of the planned October 1 nationwide protest, coordinators of the #EndBadGovernance protest across the 19 northern states have pulled out on grounds that organisers have not done enough to provide security for protesters.

According to the coordinators, the decision to pull out was reached after failure on the part of national organisers to resolve the knotty issues around how to safeguard protesters and wade off hoodlums from hijacking the process again.

In a joint statement signed by the chairman and secretary of the Northern Coordinators of the #Endbadgivernance Protest, Abdullahi Daura and Mohammed Musa Biu, respectively, the coordinators explained that members were apprehensive about a repeat of the violence that erupted in Kano, Kaduna and other parts of the north and do not want anything destructive.

According to the statement: “We have asked questions and wrote several requests for security cover at the convergence points in the north where people will join the protest action. But we are yet to get a clear answer and measures taken to avoid violence and looting of property.

“Against this background, we are urging all our members in all the nineteen states to obey the directives from the coordinators and pull out until we get clearance from security agencies.”

While assuring Nigerians about their resolve to put pressure on the federal government to reverse all the unfriendly policies that have caused untold hardship, the coordinators explained that the lives and property of innocent citizens matter to them more than anything, hence the need to back out until further notice.

The statement urged members to remain calm and peaceful during the October 1 Independence Day celebration across the North.