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Social media personality and critic Reno Omokri has called the attention of northerners to the alleged machinations of some fifth columnists to destroy their region through protest mobilisation.
Omokri's comments come in the wake of violence, looting and destruction of public and private property in the north during the nationwide protests against hunger and hardship.
Many Nigerians trooped to the streets on Thursday to commence a 10-day demonstration against bad governance and the state of the economy.
While the protests went with minimal incidents in the southern part of the country, the process was marred with killings and violence in many northern states.
No fewer than four people died when Boko Haram/ISWAP elements infiltrated the protest and detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Borno State on the first of the protest.
At the same, two persons were killed in another northern state when a driver rammed his car into protesters, among other reported killings.
The demonstration in Kano degenerated into violence and looting as hoodlums descended on a yet-to-be-commissioned Industrial Park belonging to the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), carting away computers and other items.
There were also reported cases of violence in Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, and Yobe, leading to Governors in some of those states declaring curfews
Omokri alleges sinister plot against the north
Highlighting the direction the protests assumed in the two regions, Omokri observed that there were plans for some elements to influence the northerners to destroy their region.
He noted that northerners were gaslighted to join the protest as none of the promoters and organisers of the demonstrations hail from that part of the country.
Describing it a "psychological operation against Arewa," Omokri said the plotters aimed to turn people of the north against themselves and the Federal Government.
"Arewa must face the fact that they were gaslighted. Not one of the protest organisers or promoters is from the core North. Not a single one. Yet, the killings, destruction of public property and looting of private businesses took place entirely in Northern Nigeria.
This was a psychological operation against Arewa. To turn you against yourselves and the Federal Government. In less than twenty-four hours, billions of Naira worth of property were destroyed, and people were waving the Russian flags.
What do the poor Northern masses know about Russia? What is their business with Putin? Someone somewhere gave them those flags, and it is even possible that those people are not even Mutanen Arewa. This was a sophisticated and well-planned operation to sabotage Northern Nigeria by the enemies of Arewa," Omokri alleged in a post on X on Sunday.