By Muhd D Haidar
Jigawa State Police Command has on Thursday stationed hundreds of Anti-Riot Police Squad in various strategic locations around Dutse capital to block proposed protest.
The Police Authority has foiled and blocked a public peaceful demonstration against hunger, social and economic difficulties organized by civil societies, political group and some members of public in the state.
According to the spoke person of the command, DSP Shiisu Lawal Adam said, police has only read the announcement of the protest in social media and going by the public comments there is tendency to have total breakdown of public peace and order if allowed.
He explained that, an intelligence gathering has proved that, some miscreants have planned to highjacked the demonstration if it started therefore as a proactive measures police urged the organizers to suspend the protest.
Contacted one of the organizers, Chairman SAWABA Initiative for Humanitarian Development, Comrade Bashir Alkasim said, less than 10 hours to the commencement of the protest police invited them for discussion.
He explained that, the state police commissioner requested them to postponed the demonstration due to some issues around public security, and “we have no way than to succumbed to security pressure and withdraw our plan”. Said Bashir.
Comrade Bashir explained that, they wanted to hold the peaceful demonstration and call the attention of federal state and local governments on the current hunger crisis, social and economic difficulties in the country, the need for the authority to do the needful things to rescue the situation that keeps degenerating day by day.
“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, the country claimed to have got more money and share it, but what only reflected to the life of civil servants and other common man was increase of hardship, poverty, hunger and other social and economic difficulties.
“We are calling on President Bola Tinubu to review his economic policy to alain it with needs and welfare of Nigerians than the foreign Interest, the local government financial autonomy shall also be revisited and granted fully.
“At Jigawa state level we are calling the state governor Malam Umar Namadi to increase the workers wage award from proposed N10,000 to N30,000 and shall be paid before Ramadan”.
Those are some of the demands we intended to demonstrate for in according to Nigerian constitution, but as police forced us to suspend it, we succumbed and cancelled it, however we look for another time and avenue to voice out our mind” Comrade Bashir declared.