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Nigerian secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), said it had uncovered the sponsors and funders of the proposed nationwide protest against economic hardship and bad governance.
Some Nigerians have fixed August 1, 2024, to commence a 10-day nationwide demonstration over the state of affairs in the country.
Dubbed the Days of Rage, the promoters of the protests are drawing inspiration from the ongoing protests in Kenya and have listed certain demands as conditions to call off the planned action.
The movement appears organic with ordinary but influential citizens using their social media platforms to advocate for it.
However, the DSS believed the plan was being orchestrated by some elements in the background. To this effect, the secret police asked those persons and groups to shelve their plans and eschew any form of proposed rage, anarchy, and spoliation.
This is contained in a statement signed on Thursday, July 25, 2024, by Peter Afunaya, the Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications of the Service.
DSS says planned protest politically motivated
The statement noted that the DSS has identified the reason behind the protest to be political as organisers desire to take advantage of the intended violent outcome to smear the federal and sub-national governments; make them unpopular to pit them against the masses with a long-term objective of forcing a regime change, especially at the centre.
“While peaceful protest is a democratic right of citizens, the Service has confirmed a sinister plan by some elements to infiltrate the protest and use it to cause chaos and extreme violence in the land,” the statement partly read.
The Service stressed that it has identified funding lines, sponsors, and collaborators of the plot and is therefore asking parents, guardians, and heads of traditional and academic institutions to advise their wards, children and students to resist the urge to join the planned protest.
“The Service has also identified, among others, the funding lines, sponsors, and collaborators of the plot. However, it does not think that aggression should be the first line of action in the instance, in handling the emerging scenario,” the DSS added.
The Service further says it will work with other sister security and law enforcement agencies to maintain peace and where necessary, will apply all legitimate methods to achieve this.