Mick Barry TD, an Irish politician and member of the Socialist Party, has condemned the arrest of #RevolutionNow protesters in Nigeria by security agents and demanded their immediate release.
Barry in a letter to Dr Uzoma Emenike, Nigerian Ambassador to Ireland, said it was sad that young people protesting against state repression and the dire economic conditions that currently prevail in Nigeria were oppressed in such brutal ways.
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The letter reads, “Dear Ambassador, further to my phone call earlier today with Victor Adeleke,.the Deputy Head of Mission at the Nigerian Embassy, I wish to convey to you in writing my protest at the arrest of peaceful protestors in Osogbo, Abuja and Lagos.
“I have received disturbing reports (including video footage) from Nigeria of the arrest and brutal attack on peaceful protestors on 5 August by members of the Department of State Services. I am aware that Dunnex Samuel, a member of the Movement for a Socialist Alternative and student leader at the Obafemi Awolowo University, along with Mandate, Oguntola Sunday and other protesters were whisked away to an unknown location by the DSS in Osogbo. I have also received reports of similar arrests and brutal attacks on peaceful protestors occurring in Abuja and Lagos, at the hands of the police, and that protestors are now being held in Area F police station in Lagos.
“It is completely unacceptable that young people protesting against state repression and the dire economic conditions that currently prevail in Nigeria should be oppressed in this brutal way. I demand the immediate and unconditional release of Dunnex Samuel and all of the other protestors and intend to make a public statement on this issue to bring this serious matter to the attention of the Irish public and the Nigerian Diaspora.”
Heavily-armed security agents on Wednesday across major cities in Nigeria clamped down on peaceful demonstrators participating in the #RevolutionNow protests to demand better governance from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK