Etim Ekpimah
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have suspended protest aimed at disrupting Democracy Day commemoration, usually referred to as June 12.
Revolutionary NANS President, Comrade Sunday Adedayo Asefon said he had addressed a press conference in Ado Ekiti on 1st June 2021 where he decried the growing insecurity in the country and the unfortunate development around schools and campuses where students are kidnapped or killed.
According to him, last week, he met with the Inspector General of Police, other security agencies, and held a series of meetings with student leaders across the country.
“While everyone agreed that the context of the planned protest is genuine and we reserve the right to protest, the palpable tension surrounding the date has come under special scrutiny.
“Let me reiterate that our plan protest was never part of the ‘Buhari Must Go Campaign or Secessionist Campaign,’ our planned protest was borne out of our genuine concerns for the safety of our students,” he said.
He added that some politicians with different agenda to theirs have concluded plans to hijack the protest to ventilate their political opinions and sentiments.
Asefon stated that while every Nigerian reserve the right to their opinion and the right to protest, it will be dangerous to their members if the protest is hijacked as the security agencies have shared with them credible intelligence on the issue.
He noted that when some political players discovered that the student union has seen their plans and their initial solidarity with the students as fake and an avenue to use the association’s platform to express their divisive views, they (the politicians) resulted in blackmailing the association with lies and fake news on their platform.
He added: “Having considered the current security realities and the danger to the lives of our members in case of possible hijack of the planned protest, I in consultation with all the structure of NANS, therefore, announce the suspension of our proposed protest for June 12.
“The suspension of the protest is necessary to avoid a clash of interest and clash with security agencies that are on red alert to protect the nation’s infrastructure from security breaches on the proposed date following many other protests slated for the date.
“We intend to protest for better security and improved welfare for our students, we must therefore not put the lives of any of our students at risk to ventilate our grievances.
“While the cause of the protest remains, we believe the suspension of the protest to a later date is necessary for us to have all attention directed at our protest and not share attention with different groups protesting for different reasons. Please kindly note that our protest on better security for our schools, campuses, and Nigerians is not CANCELLED, rather SUSPENDED and a new date will be announced soon.
“As leaders, we are confronted with two different difficult choices; we have chosen the one we considered the best for the interest of our members. We cannot afford any of our students to be shot or wounded while protesting legitimate causes because of infiltrations or hijack. We take full responsibility for this suspension as we promise to announce a new date for our planned protest.”
Asefon added: “I, therefore, call on all our structure across the country to suspend the planned protest for a later date that will be announced soon after due consultation with student leaders across the 36 states of the federation including the FCT.
“If our voices must be heard clearly, we must ensure that no other interest other than ours takes the centre stage in our protest.”