Nationwide protests for the release of abducted school girls

The non-release of over 200 abducted female pupils of the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, topped the agenda of the Workers’ Day celebrations across the country on Thursday.


There were protests by various groups which attended the Workers’ Day ceremonies across the country.

In Lagos, a clash between the police and Save Nigeria Group protesters over the missing girls almost marred the celebration.

Heavily-armed policemen accosted the protesters at the popular CMS Bus Stop in central Lagos, firing tear gas at them in an attempt to disperse the march to the Onikan Stadium venue of the workers’ celebrations.

Fela’s son and police

The protesters, in Lagos, led by Seun, a musician-activist son of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, defied what they called “police harassment” and insisted on staging the protest.

Lagos protest led by Seun and Waje

They carried placards and sang to demand action by the Federal Government and the military to secure freedom for the over 200 girls, who were abducted from their hostels 17 days ago by members of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Seun, while wielding a placard, which read, “Biggest economy: How does it affect my daily bread, shelter and clothing?”, had assembled with others at the CMS Bus Stop along the Outer Marina from where they planned to proceed to the Onikan Stadium.

The police were said to have told them not to protest at that point but when they refused to leave, tear-gas canisters were fired at them.

One of the protesters, Adeyinka Oloye, who is also Seun’s manager, described the incident as an attempt by the police to intimidate them.

Oloye berated the government at all levels, attributing insecurity, unemployment and lack of infrastructure to failure on the part of the government.

He said, “We went to protest for the release of the 200 girls abducted in Borno State as well as the strike embarked on by staff of polytechnics and Colleges of Education. We had assembled peacefully at the CMS from where we would proceed to Onikan Stadium when policemen told us to leave.

“We explained to them that we were marching peacefully to the stadium but they did not listen. They fired about five tear gas canisters at us. They would have even shot at us if not for the intervention of the Area ‘A’ Commander.”

The commander, Imohimi Edgal, however, warned Seun and the others to respect the state’s directives on protests.

Edgal said, “No one is saying people should not protest but the arrangement that was made was that everyone should converge on Onikan Stadium. Protesting at the CMS is very unfair to other people who are not involved in the protest. It would also cause traffic congestion for motorists.

“Also, the protest could be easily hijacked by hoodlums at CMS and the protesters’ security would be at risk. Anyone who wants to protest should only do so at places designated by the police.”

The SNG protesters later joined a larger band of protesters at the Onikan Stadium, where members of different human rights groups, including the Change Movement Nigeria, Education Rights Campaign, Joint Action Front, Civil Liberties Organisation and the Nigeria Labour Congress, among others, demanded better governance.

Some of the protesters wielded placards, which read, “I am Chibok, I give a damn”, “Stop chasing shadows, bring back our girls,” “I am a grandma, I feel for the mothers, please bring back Chibok girls,” “Hike of LASU fees by Fashola/APC is the peak of wickedness. Reverse it now or else…”

A delegate to the ongoing National Conference, Femi Falana, said the release of the abducted girls should be the government’s priority assignment for now.

He said, “We don’t want the security of this nation to be taken likely. You can imagine the trauma the parents of those girls are going through? We want security to be our major concern now.”

Kwara protesters storm workers’ rally

In Kwara State, members of a coalition of Civil Society Organisations protested the girls’ abduction at a rally organised by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to mark the Workers’ Day at the Metropolitan Square in Ilorin.

The protesters, who stormed the Labour rally midway, carried placards to campaign for the release of the missing girls.

Some of the placards read, “Where are the Chibok girls?” “Where are our sisters?” “Chibok girls: please find our daughters.” “President Jonathan, please stop playing with our lives.” And “Mr. President, our youths are dying.” Others read, ‘Mr. President, where is our $20bn?” “Masses are dying at the expense of few,” and ‘If one of us is unsafe, none of us is safe.”

In a statement by Shuaibu Fari and Basambo Abubakar on behalf of the protesters, they urged the Federal Government to find a solution to insecurity in the country.

The statement read, “On behalf of the civil society organisations in Kwara, the coalition expresses concern over the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Borno State and why government has not sufficiently and tactically carried out action that will lead to their rescue.

“The coalition demands that a secret force should be set up and deployed to rescue these innocent and vulnerable girls from the terrorists’ camp.

“Our dear President, the first duty of a president is to have a heart for the people, to treasure his people, love them and have a desire to give them his best all the times. That is what makes a good president and that is what politics is all about.

“Saving our girls right now and stabilise the security of this country should be of utmost priority that goes beyond giving rooms for distraction from political opponents or giving more attention to the pursuit of personal aspiration.”

Chairman, NLC, Kwara State chapter, Mr. Farouk Akanbi, in his address at the workers’ rally also decried the non-release of the schoolgirls and other forms of insecurity and violent crimes.

Borno workers not in mood to celebrate

In Borno State, protesters who all wore black aprons and led by the Borno State Chairman of the NLC, Titus Ali Abana, marched from the NLC secretariat to the Government House in Maiduguri, where they registered their displeasure over what they termed the government slow pace in rescuing the abducted girls.

Abana said the workers used the opportunity of the May Day to mourn victims of insurgency in the state and the abducted girls of Chibok.

He said, “Today is the 1st of May, which is a day set aside for workers across the world to celebrate the Workers’ Day. Unfortunately workers in Borno State are in no mood to celebrate as the uncertainty of our lives and the fate of our abducted schoolgirls continue to hunt us.

“In labour creed, an injury to one is considered an injury to all and in this regard therefore, we empathise with the parents and relatives of these girls and also sympathise with the schoolgirls themselves as we cannot begin to imagine what they might have passed through this past two weeks in the hands of their heartless abductors whose stock in trade has been senseless murders and untold carnage.”

Women in black on the street

In Kaduna, hundreds of women in the state, under the aegis of “concerned women” protested the abduction of the female pupils even as some other women threatened to march naked to the Sambisa forest, where the girls were believed to have been kept by the Boko Haram insurgents.

The Kaduna protest, which started at about 10:00am at the Murtala Muhammed Square, heightened tension in the state.

The protest, meant for only women, was hijacked by some men who claimed that they were also playing the role of fathers to protest the abduction of the girls in Borno.

The state Commissioner of Police, Shehu Umar, was spotted talking to some of the protesters on the need to be orderly.

The women, made up of both Muslims and Christians, walked round the expansive Murtala Square, shouting and wailing, demanding the immediate release of the girls.

There was a mild drama as the women, who sat on bare floor, became angry when they were asked to move to the podium for the Chief of Staff to the governor, Alhaji Yahay Aminu, to address them.

“This is not Peoples Democratic Party rally, don’t come here to play politics with the lives of the missing girls. If you want to address the women, come down to them and not them getting closer to you at the podium,” one of the men said.

The leader of the protesting women, Hajiya Sa’adatu Hama, who addressed newsmen shortly after the protest, blast the government for being insensitive to the plight of the abducted girls.

She said, “Even if these girls are spirits, government should have secured their release by now; we cannot just imagine government saying that it needs the help of foreign powers before it can secure the release of over 200 schoolgirls.

“This is not good enough, but if one person dies in Abuja today, the whole government functionaries will converge on Abuja. But, where are our daughters? Government must bring them out for us.”

 Women also protested in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.