Cross River State governor, Bassey Otu has emphasised that his administration is not against peaceful protest but is afraid of the negative impacts that will come with the protest.
He said that the government is concerned hired mercenaries may storm the state capital through the creeks to destroy key infrastructural facilities just like they did during the 2020 #EndSARS, where property worth millions of naira was looted or vandalised.
Otu made the remarks during an interactive session with entertainment stakeholders yesterday in Calabar.
The state chief executive stated that as a Nigerian, he is not afraid of what is likely to befall the state as he is aware of plans by stranger elements who had hatched plans to unleash terror on the state.
Representing the state governor, special adviser to Governor Bassey Otu, on general duties, Barr. Ekpeyong Akiba appealed to the stakeholders of the industry not to join the protesters as the government was doing everything humanly possible to respond to their problems.
The governor, who expressed concerns over the planned protests scheduled for August 1, 2024, by faceless individuals, assured the entertainers of tremendous change as a result of this engagement.
“People who struck during the protests were not Crossriverians but strangers who came through the Calabar waterways via the creeks to unleash mayhem and loot in our state.
“Most of the protesters of #EndSARS 2020 are the ones who made other family members lose their jobs. Unical Hotel today is no longer functioning because of the activity of vandals who stormed the state during the 2020 #EndSARS protest,” he said.
In his remarks, the former state commissioner for culture and tourism and member of the Actor Guild of Nigeria, Mr Eric Anderson, lamented how b173 properties worth N63 bn were vandalised including the 240 rooms Lake Side Hotel at the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort, were vandalised by hoodlums during the protest.
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