About 200 protesters under the aegis of the Coalition of Civil
Society Groups on Tuesday stormed at the Headquarters of the Nigerian
Television Authority and the Central Bank of Nigeria in Abuja in
solidarity with President Muhammadu Buhari, saying his rumoured death
was the handiwork of blackmailers and mischief makers.
They urged
Nigerians to pray for quick recovery of the President to avoid any
eventuality, rather than play politics with his death.
For about two hours, no vehicle was allowed into the NTA premises and none was allowed to go out.
The
protesters insisted that the NTA management, led by its Director
General, Mohammed Ibn Mohammed, should give explanation why they had
refused to send their crew to cover its rally to tell the world that
Buhari is alive.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as:
“No country thrives on rumours and corruption, let’s support anti-
corruption”, “In unity, we will end recession”, Buhari is not dead but
alive”, “Nigerians, let’s pray for Buhari’s quick recovery”, “Recession
will be over soon, blame past leaders” and “We pass a vote of confidence
on CBN.”
The President of the coalition and renowned civil rights
activist, Etuk Bassey Williams, during the protest, said Nigeria cannot
develop if the citizens continues to seek the downfall of its leaders.
Williams
said: “Why will the NTA DG not send representatives to come and cover
the peaceful rally in solidarity with the a President? If the DG doesn’t
come out, he must resign or be fired. We will occupy NTA if he refuses
to come and address us. The NTA must come, cover and protect the
interest of government. We have international media, but NTA refused to
come for coverage.”
He condemned sponsored protests against the
President, stressing that Buhari should rather be supported with prayers
rather than armed-chair criticism.
Williams blamed the
blackmailers for heating up tension in the country and further
advocated for quick recovery of the president.
He said Buhari has been at the forefront against corruption and strived to restore peace in the nation.
According to him, past leaders should be blamed for looting the treasury and inflicting hardship on Nigerians.
They commended the CBN for initiating policies that will promote industrialisation of the country.
Williams
said: “No nation thrives on baseless lies against its leaders and the
incessant use of this approach by self-centred, callous and corrupt
politicians. The continuous blackmail against Buhari and some of his
cabinet members by some corrupt politicians who may feel aggrieved by
the strict monetary and fiscal policies of the CBN and the economic team
respectively through several media propaganda and sponsored protests
are retrogressive actions capable of unsettling the polity and should be
condemned in its entirety.”
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