A combined team of armed Security operatives on Monday took over sit-out centres in Benin metropolis in Edo State in a bid to prevent civil society members and other Nigerians from embarking on a nationwide protest tagged “RevolutionNow”
The operatives mounted surveillance on the Museum ground at King square and campuses of tertiary institutions as well as some media houses in Benin City, Edo State Capital.
Anti-riot Policemen attached to Commands and the Directorate of State Security Service (DSS) also laid siege to the premises of the Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL), publishers of the Nigerian Observer.
The heavy security presence at the various locations sent jitters down the spines of some civil society members who had showed up for the protest.
But, they did not harass law-abiding citizens or hinder journalists from doing their job.
A team of policemen also stationed at the entrance to the State Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Edo State Council.
The security officers stormed the Nigerian Observer premises with four Hilux patrol vans while that of the NUJ secretariat was three.
The convener of the movement, Omoyele Sowore, had called for a nationwide protest in a video that went viral in the internet.
But, he was arrested and whisked away by the Department of States Services, DSS ahead of the nationwide protest against bad governance in the country.
Sowore who was a presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, in the February 23 Presidential election, has been moved from DSS facility in Lagos to Abuja.
But, a member of the Civil society who pleaded anonymity, said the police and DSS wanted then to call-off the protest.
According to him, “Security agencies want us to tell them why we went to protest”.
Defending the action of the security operatives, the Commissioner of Police, Edo State, Mr Danmallam Mohammed, said, there was no cause for alarm.
He said, police acted swiftly to avert breakdown of law and order in line with its mandate as provided in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He stated that arrest has been made in connection with the protest.
“We are law enforcement agents, we will not fold our hands and watch hoodlums assault innocent Citizens in the name of protest.
“So far, there has been no violence in Edo State. There is no protest in Benin. We are just been proactive”, he said.
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