The president appealed to protesters to end the demonstration and dialogue with the government.
The fourth day of the nationwide protests started slowly in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Sunday as near normalcy returned to the city.
From 10 a.m. on Sunday, PREMIUM TIMES moved from the Umaru Musa Yar’adua highway, popularly known as Airport Road, through the Moshood Abiola Stadium to Area 1, Area 10 and to the Three Arms Zone where the Eagle Square is located.
Though many of the streets are still deserted, more commuters and commercial vehicles were seen than during the first three days of the protest.
At the Moshood Abiola Stadium, only a handful of protesters were sighted hanging around the premises around 10:40 a.m. A few trucks of police officers were also seen at the stadium.
Sunday’s low turnout of protesters may be attributed to fatigue, religious activities, or President Bola Tinubu‘s address earlier in the day.
The president appealed to protesters to end the demonstration and dialogue with the government.
However, some Nigerians, including Omoyele Sowore, one of the protest organisers, asked Nigerians to occupy Eagles Square on Monday.
A controversial ex parte order of the FCT High Court had restricted protesters to the MKO Abiola Stadium. For the first two days of the protest, protesters were tear-gassed when they left the stadium for Eagles Square.
On the third day, however, police shot at unarmed protesters and journalists at the stadium, using tear gas and live bullets. Many people sustained injuries in the melee.
The protesters had announced that the protest would be held daily until 10 October.
Govt wants protest suspended
In his Sunday broadcast to Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu urged the the suspension of protests and asked protesters to embrace dialogue.
The president also reeled out policies his government has put in place to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
He also condemned the destruction of properties and loss of lives in places like Kano and Kaduna. He commiserated with the families who lost their loved ones.
The president, however, kept mum on the security agencies’ attack on journalists and unarmed protesters.
PREMIUM TIMES
