Youths in Osun State have staged a peaceful march in protest of the high cost of goods and services and the rising cost of living in the country.
The youths who were led in protest by leaders of civil societies organisations in the state on Friday in Osogbo also used the protest to call on the federal and state governments and other stakeholders to immediately intervene and save the country from momentary collapse.
The protesters had defied the heavy presence of police operatives near the scene of the protest as they assembled along MDS Road, Osogbo very early on Friday.
Addressing the protesters who were armed with placards bearing different inscriptions such as ‘change the unfavourable policies’, ‘Nigerians are suffering, we can’t cope again’, and ‘We are humans, stop mistreating the citizens’, among others, the chairman, Osun Civil Societies Coalition, Waheed Lawal, said the protest would continue until the Federal Government thinks out solutions to the current economic hardship ravaging the country.
In his words, “Government must ameliorate the suffering of the people. They must do whatever they need to do to make sure that the people live in better conditions.
“Nigerians deserve the best. They promised us renewed hope but what they are giving us now is renewed hardship. We reject renewed hardship in our lives, and in our economy because Nigerians deserve the best.
“What Nigerians want is a peaceful atmosphere. We don’t want insecurity in our land again. We can’t travel from Osogbo to Ibadan without panicking. You will be thinking that they will kidnap you.
“The abduction of monarchs is the order of the day in our country now. We urge the government to provide security for the lives and property of the citizens. It is their responsibility, it is a constitutional responsibility.
“Every government that fails to provide security for the lives of the citizens is no longer a government. What we are saying is simple, we are ready to face the government in this hardship and we are marathon runners.
“We have started this struggle today and if the government fails to listen to us, we will continue to mobilise our people to protest this hardship because enough is enough.”
It can be recalls that the Osun State Police Command had in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola warned against any plans to hijack peaceful protests in the state.
Opalola in the statement revealed that the police were in possession of intelligence, revealing that some criminal elements intended to hijack any peaceful protests and use the avenue to cause chaos in the state.
