Intelligence Shows Hoodlums Will Hijack Protests, Loot – Reps

The chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson, has said the authorities have credible intelligence which showed that some people will turn the good intentions of the youths to embark on peaceful protests, which is guaranteed under the Constitution, to do different and nasty things.

Benson who is the lawmaker representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said some people according to intelligence will hijack the protests to cause riot and loot properties as well as unleash mayhem on Nigerians.

He stated that it was based on this intelligence that government and other critical stakeholders do not want the protests to take place, saying the country was yet to recover from the 2020 EndSars demonstrations.

The lawmaker noted that President Bola Tinubu was a victim of the EndSars protest as the TVC, a television station owned by him was burned down while there was attempt to also razed down the Nation newspaper belonging to him.

He also recalled that other business entities including ShopRite and Spar and buses were destroyed, rendering many people jobless, expressing fears that it could be the country‘s fate if the present protest continues.

Benson also hinted that the National Assembly had passed the bill to increase the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) total advances to the Federal Government (Ways and Means) from five per cent to a maximum of 10 per cent so that the government can have more funds to address some of the issues in contention.

“What is happening in Nigeria, people are hungry and want security and welfare to be improved. So, whatever it takes to achieve that we are going to spend money so increasing (Ways and Means) from 5% to 10% is a step in the right direction so that we can have access to funds to reach out to the greater good of people,“ he said.

The lawmaker also observed that the current situation in the country was worsened by communication gap as the citizens, especially the youths were not adequately informed about the efforts of the government in addressing the nation‘s challenges.

He said: “There is a communication gap, if anything the government does is communicated to the grassroots we will not be in this problem we are.

„Is the government doing excellently well? No, but this kind of dialogue has also forced government to look at things in a more different and critical manner. But the government is not speaking enough to our youths.

„We are doing very laudable things but they are not talking about. There is a communication gap so if they bridge that communication gap Nigerians will be wiser. Somebody needs to engage these people, my people perish for lack of knowledge.“