Organizers of the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protest have announced a three-day mourning period to honour the memories of their fallen colleagues who were killed by security agents during the protests.
The mourning period commences today, Wednesday, 7 August and ends on Friday, 9 August with a public symposium and candlelight procession.
In a statement by Hassan Soweto, Ayoyinka Oni and Adegboyega Adeniji, on behalf of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria Organising Committee, Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos State, the organisers said the decision to declare a mourning period comes after a series of violent attacks on peaceful protesters by police and thugs allegedly sponsored by the state.
“Arising from a closed-door organisers’ meeting today, Tuesday, 6 August 2024, we have declared three days of mourning in Lagos State to honour our fallen colleagues across the country who were killed by trigger-happy police and security agents during the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protest. The three days of mourning will commence on Wednesday, 7 August, with an X Space and end on Friday, 9 August 2024, with a public symposium and candlelight procession.
“We hereby urge all Nigerian people and youth who support the struggle against hunger and hardship to do everything they can on a personal level to observe these three days of mourning, which may include wearing black attires as they go out, putting up graphics of the movement on their social media profiles, as well as other individual acts to show solidarity with our fallen heroes,” the statement read in part.
The protest organisers encouraged Nigerians to join collective actions, such as the X Space happening on Wednesday, as well as the public symposium and candlelight procession on Friday.
Explaining the rationale for the three-day mourning, they said it was motivated by two things.
“First, the Lagos State government and the Commissioner of Police have made it clear over the past five days that despite assurances to the contrary, they are not in any way prepared to guarantee the right of peaceful protesters to assemble freely without molestation. This explains why, at any slight opportunity, the police at Ojota, as well as at Alausa, have surreptitiously allowed state-sponsored thugs to attack our members and injure them.
“This happened yet again on Monday, 5 August 2024, as the protest closed officially when a band of thugs armed with various weapons descended on peaceful protesters under the watchful eyes of the police. The same thing happened earlier in the day at Alausa, Ikeja.