The minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Engr Abubakar Momoh has pleaded with the people of the Niger Delta region not to take part in the planned nationwide protest scheduled to hold on August 1, 2024.
Momoh, who made the appeal while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, revealed that those sponsoring the planned protest are living outside Nigeria, adding that they aim to destroy the country.
He reminded Nigerians that the #EndSARS protest, which started on a peaceful note was hijacked by hoodlums leading to massive destruction in Lagos State and other parts of the country.
The minister said: “In part, the entire Niger Delta should not have anything to do with it, because the people who are planning it, they are faceless. They are not residents of Nigeria. Most of them are outside the country.
“They want to destroy your country while they are there living in comfort zones. So, we should not allow the youth of our area to have anything to do with the protests. Because you know how it starts, but you don’t know how it ends.
“You saw the EndSARs in Lagos. You can see the massive destruction that was done to Lagos. If the economy of Lagos is not very strong, it will be very difficult for them to recover.
“And imagine, allowing such a protest to happen in places like this, and even in Port Harcourt and the Niger Delta region, who is going to lose? We are the ones who are going to lose. We are not as strong as Lagos.
“So I think, let me use this opportunity to appeal to the entire masses, particularly the traditional rulers, the youth, and the women, not to allow themselves to be deceived by anybody.
“It goes beyond Mr President. It’s not President Tinubu that we are asking. What is being planned now is how to destroy Nigeria and to let you know that there is no country today in advanced nations that would want Nigeria to make progress.
“You recall sometimes back in 2011 or so, they would tell you that by 2015 Nigeria was going to collapse, that there would be nothing like Nigeria. They did every manipulation to see that Nigeria did not survive. Has Nigeria not survived? So, they are surprised that a lot of progress has been made in this country.”
