Group threatens legal action against protesters who occupied its Abuja headquarters

A group, City Boy Movement, has said it is in possession of video footage of protesters who occupied its headquarters in Abuja on Friday to demand the resignation of President Bola Tinubu over the country’s worsening insecurity.

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The group, which is campaigning for President Tinubu’s second term, said the footage would be handed over to relevant security and law enforcement agencies as evidence against those involved in the protest.

Its Deputy Director-General, O’Tega Ogra, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying it would pursue the matter until justice is served.

“The City Boy Movement wishes to be very clear about something else. In video footage from today’s incident, one of the individuals present was heard calling for our property to be set on fire. That is not protest. That is a threat of arson.

“The footage has been preserved and will be made available to the relevant security and law enforcement agencies. Anyone involved should be in no doubt: we will pursue this matter to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

Earlier on Friday, protesters occupied the premises of the City Boy Movement headquarters in Abuja to protest rising insecurity and economic hardship across the country.

The demonstration was part of the mobilisation announced by a coalition of civil society organisations, trade unions, youth groups, faith-based organisations, and social movements, which had earlier declared June 12 a day of mass action.

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Similar protests were held in Lagos and other parts of the country, with demonstrators demanding immediate government action to address insecurity or, alternatively, President Tinubu’s resignation.

However, video footage that has since gone viral showed some protesters at the City Boy Movement headquarters throwing stones and other objects at the building while others chanted solidarity songs and carried placards.

The movement has positioned itself as a political structure supporting the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Tinubu’s re-election bid. It also maintains branches across the states for political mobilisation.

Protesters not showing concern

Mr Ogra acknowledged the country’s increasing insecurity challenges but argued that the Tinubu administration is taking steps to address them.

He referenced the president’s Democracy Day address, in which he challenged bandits to surrender, as well as the recent sentencing of those responsible for the Owo church attack, as evidence of the government’s efforts to combat insecurity.

The deputy director-general stated that the protesters who demonstrated at the movement’s headquarters while ignoring these efforts were engaging in partisan politics rather than genuine advocacy.

“So when people show up at our gate, on a day like this, pretending nothing is being done, we know exactly what we are looking at. That is not concern. That is politics. And bad politics at that,” he said.

The deputy director-general also insisted that the protest was not peaceful.

“Your right to peaceful protest is guaranteed. Nobody disputes that. But what happened today was not peaceful in any meaningful sense. And even where protest is peaceful, that right does not give anyone the licence to threaten others, obstruct their work, invade their space, or attempt to disenfranchise fellow Nigerians from freely associating with a political movement of their choice.

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“Your right to protest does not cancel another citizen’s right to participate. Your right to speak does not include the right to silence others. Your right to assemble does not include the right to intimidate those who disagree with you,” he added.

Mr Ogra said the movement would not allow anyone to use the hardship and insecurity facing Nigerians as a political tool against the government.

“There is a difference between protest and provocation, between advocacy and ambush, and an even larger difference between demanding security and weaponising insecurity for politics. We will not allow anyone to use the pain of Nigerians as a mask for political blackmail.

“We say this especially to young Nigerians: be careful. Do not allow yourselves to be used by people who do not care about your pain, your safety, your future, or your country. The people who send others to cause trouble often sit safely somewhere else. It is ordinary young people who end up bearing the consequences. Do not let them use you.

“Some people have chosen to refuse to see what this government is doing. That is their right, and their business. But we will not be drawn into their pessimism about the future of a country that is on the right track under President Tinubu. We have work to do, and we will do it,” he said.