'We’ll not change our ultimatum on Buhari' - #OurMumuDonDo protesters vow

Protesters under the aegis of #OurMumuDonDo have told the Presidency that they will not change their request calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to either resume or resign.



It followed alleged harassment of the group’s members and reporters by the Police during a peaceful sit-out yesterday in Abuja.

The group described the Senate as “a monumental failure over the upper chamber’s failure to live up to its constitutional responsibilities by asking necessary questions on the whereabouts of the President. ”

Leader of the group, Charles Oputa, while taking a swipe at the Senate’s position which he termed “outright ridiculous”, said: “The Bukola Saraki-led chamber had once again demonstrated that it is nothing but a mere rubber stamp of the executive arm of government.”

In a statement by the group’s Special Assistant (Media and Publicity), Ezrel Tabiowo in Abuja, Oputa added that the Senate President’s decision to throw his weight behind the President, despite the hardship faced by Nigerians owing to poor governance caused by Buhari’s absence, was a desperate attempt at patronising the Presidency.

A reporter with Silverbird Television (STV), Femi Togun and a protester, Theophilus Abumagada, were injured when policemen fired tear gas canisters to disperse protesters demanding the return or resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Togun was allegedly assaulted by policemen, who slapped and dragged him on the ground, injuring his hand and leg in the process.

The policemen were also said to have confiscated his camera, which they later released.

Abumagada was rushed to the Federal Staff Clinic at the Federal Secretariat complex after he was injured during the melee.

Another STV reporter, Amadin Uyi, said he was assaulted by the policemen for covering the protest.



Motorists, commuters and passersby on the Shehu Shagari Way also got a dose of the police assault as the operatives fired several canisters on the road.

Adeyanju chided the government for unleashing the policemen on harmless citizens demanding to know the health status of their president.

Senate to protesters: leave President alone

The Senate has called on civil society organisations and individuals demanding the resignation of President Muhammadu Bihari to let him be.

Buhari has been in London, the United Kingdom since May 7, for a resumed medical attention for an undisclosed illness.

Having spent over 90 days in London, a coalition of civil society organisations and individuals started a protest on Monday, calling on the President to either return to the country or tender his resignation.

But in a statement yesterday, signed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, the Senate asked the protesters to stop heating up the polity with their “unreasonable demands”.

The Senate spokesman accused the protesters of creating unnecessary tension and seeking to divert the attention of the Presidency from the economic and security issues, which he said, are being tackled with vigour.