In the countdown to the June 12 Democracy Day celebration, the Take-It-Back Movement says it would be holding a nationwide protest to draw attention to the country’s worsening insecurity, shrinking civic space, and growing economic hardship.
In a statement on Tuesday, National Coordinator of the movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, rejected the official June 12 celebration of Democracy Day, contending that “This is not a democracy. This is organised cruelty”.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that Sanyaolu mobilised Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful protests and called on workers, students, civil society groups, artisans, and Diasporan Nigerians to join the action which would hold simultaneously in all state capitals as well as the Federal Capital Territory, insisting that there was no going on it.
Condemning the rising wave of insecurity in the northern parts of the country particularly the Middle Belt and Southern Kaduna, the statement said, “This June 12; we march not just for ourselves, but for the slain in Benue, the displaced in Plateau, the silenced in detention, and the starving masses abandoned by a corrupt elite”.
Sanyaolu lamented that the entire communities in some of the states had been wiped out while thousands remained displaced, with the government either turning a blind eye or denying the scale of the carnage.
According to him, “In Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and across the Middle Belt, mass killings continue with terrifying frequency.
“Lives are snuffed out without consequences. Internally displaced persons multiply, while perpetrators roam free.
“The bloodletting has become a routine, and the state remains complicit through its inaction, negligence, or outright denial. This is not a democracy. This is organised cruelty”.
Sanyaolu also berated the Federal Government’s alleged crackdown on dissent, citing arrests of protesters, detention of activists, and the targeting of journalists and social media users under the Cybercrime Act.
He said through the weaponisation of the Cybercrime Act, government agents now stalked the digital footprints of dissenters, silencing legitimate criticism and criminalising free expression.
While describing these actions as part of a broader campaign to silence opposition and stifle democratic expression, the movement posited that, “Across the federation, the signs of democratic collapse are unmistakable. Democracy, which was won through struggle, sweat, and blood, has been dismantled by the very forces that once promised change.
“Nigeria stands today not as a democratic nation, but as a country at war with its people. Freedom of speech is under attack. The State has turned on its citizens with an unrelenting campaign of intimidation and censorship. Journalists are harassed, activists are detained, and citizens are arrested for social media posts.”