Lagos APC urges youths to shun planned protest, embrace peace
By Sodiq Adelakun
Ahead of the planned nationwide protest on August 1, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State has appealed to Nigerians, particularly youths, to prioritise peace and avoid violence.
The party’s spokesman, Hon. Seye Oladejo on Wednesday, warned that the mass destruction experienced during the 2020 EndSARS protest remains fresh in the minds of Nigerians.
“While we acknowledge peaceful protests as an integral component of democratic governance, the predictable attendant violence and loss of lives and property remain undesirable.”
Oladejo urged the government to be sensitive to the yearnings of the population, especially the youth, and uphold its constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property.
“We urge the government at the federal, state, and local levels to remain sensitive, attentive, receptive, and responsible to the yearnings of our teeming population, most especially the youth.”
The party also called on security agencies to uphold professional standards to prevent any unpleasant developments. Oladejo expressed commitment to fulfilling the party’s social contract with citizens, while accusing the opposition of fanning the embers of bloodletting to soothe their bruised ego.
The statement read, “While we acknowledge peaceful protests as an integral component of democratic governance, the predictable attendant violence and loss of lives and property remain undesirable.
“In the past few days, we have watched with keen interest, most especially, on social media, the mobilisation for the protest, laced with bitterness, hate speeches, hostility, divisiveness and threats to citizens with contrary opinions.
“The mass destruction of public and private assets during the EndSARS protest which started as a harmless demonstration remains fresh in our memory. The loss of targeted critical infrastructure across various sectors set our dear state back by decades and in billions.
“We urge the government at the federal, state and local levels to remain sensitive, attentive, receptive and responsible to the yearnings of our terming population, most especially the youth, in order to continue to engender confidence and uphold its onerous constitutional responsibility to protect the lives and property of all and sundry.
“We’re not unmindful of the political undertones with the otherwise moribund opposition fanning the embers of bloodletting to soothe their bruised ego as a result of losing the last national elections.
“We take solace in the assurance that patriotic Nigerians will not be deceived into avoidable carnage by people with ulterior motives.”
